Helmut Marko offers first real explanation behind Red Bull sacking Christian Horner

Helmut Marko has offered the first real explanation behind Christian Horner being fired by Red Bull and termed it a case similar to football, where a coach is being let go because the performances have dropped. The Austrian team surprised a lot of people when they announced that Horner was being fired with immediate effect a few weeks back.

Horner was one of the first employees on the team and was a part of the squad for two decades. During this time, he built a hall of fame career that included winning 14 world titles in 20 years. The 2023 F1 season saw the true peak of what a team could do in the sport when Red Bull won all but one race in the entire year.

Since early 2024, there has been a dip in performance, and a lot of it has been put down to a wrong technical direction taken by the team, which was followed by an intra-team political back-and-forth where Red Bull was split between the Christian Horner side and the one with Helmut Marko and the Max Verstappen camp.

While Max Verstappen was able to win the title in 2024, it was the inability to have a title-contending car in 2025 that led to the call. What has been surprising has been a lack of explanation and a lack of communication on why Christian Horner was fired.

Talking to Kleine Zeitung, Helmut Marko has offered the first explanation, where he made a direct comparison with football, as he said,

"In Formula 1, the changes are like football. If things don't work out, the coach simply has to go."

Marko didn't expand much on it as he shifted the conversation to Laurent Mekies, for whom he said,

"The transition went very well. Laurent knows people, he approaches people, and hopefully that will have a positive effect."

He added,

"Mekies has already adjusted a few details in the simulator preparation. Basically, he focuses more on the racing action and is less involved in other departments. It's crucial that his responsibilities as team principal have been reduced compared to Horner's."

Red Bull's Helmut Marko not giving up on Max Verstappen's championship hopes for now

Switching gears to what's ahead, Red Bull's Helmut Marko revealed Max Verstappen is still in contention to fight for the title. On the points table, the driver is more than two race wins behind the championship leader, but Marko claimed that the team was not going to give up so soon. He said,

"We still have twelve races left, in which 332 points will be awarded in sprints. In the best case scenario, these will also be available to us. As long as it's still mathematically possible, we won't give up."

Talking about the upgrades, he said,

"We had to do something to close the gap. It's also one of Max's favorite tracks, where his exceptional talent shines through even more. We hope to be right up there with the frontrunners."

It would be interesting to see what Max Verstappen thinks about his chances at the title, as contrary to Helmut Marko, he has not been too hopeful about it.