Helmut Marko responds to rumors of Christian Horner in danger of getting fired by Red Bull

Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko, rubbished rumors of Christian Horner losing his job as team principal ahead of the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It has been a tricky start to the 2025 season for the Austrian team, as they have been firmly behind reigning world champions McLaren in terms of performance on the track.

There were expectations from the ex-world champions that they would sort out the issues plaguing their car in the offseason and come back stronger to challenge the working days outfit but it was not the case.

Amidst the poor form on the track, Red Bull have also been riddled with stories of internal conflicts and power struggles since the start of last year. Heading into Imola, there were reports that Christian Horner might face the axe for the Milton Keynes outfit's struggling fortunes.

However, while speaking to Krone Zeitung, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko shut down such reports and said:

"That's complete nonsense. Apparently, someone is trying to make themselves important again. For us, everything remains the same."

Marko was instead focused on the on-track revival of Red Bull in Imola, however, he was wary of any major changes in the pecking order this weekend despite the Austrian team bringing in new parts to the RB21, saying:

"That's overrated. There are incremental improvements, but you can't expect us to suddenly have a winning car again. McLaren manages to keep the tire temperature within a very favourable window. The new regulations for the wings, which will be effective from Barcelona, give us more hope that something will change," Marko said.

Christian Horner, too, was looking forward to the new technical directive in Spain when the flexi front wings would be clamped down by the FIA.

Red Bull team principal comments on closing the gap to McLaren

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that the technical directive in Spain would not be a 'Eureka moment' for the rest of the grid in their bid to close the gap to McLaren.

As per PitPass, the 51-year-old spoke about the impact of the technical directive and said:

"For sure, it's going to have an effect. How much it affects your competitors versus your own, it's difficult to predict, but for sure it's a significant change.

"I don't think there's a 'Eureka' moment, but I think it's very fine, because if you look at the race pace and the degradation, we had there was better than or at least the same, and marginally better than McLaren."

The Austrian team are already 152 points behind McLaren in the Constructors' Championship after six races and two Sprints in the 2025 season, however, they remain the only team to beat the latter in the main races, owing to Max Verstappen's victory in Japan.