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German F1 pundit and former racer Ralf Schumacher has warned Red Bull boss Christian Horner that Max Verstappen will side with Helmut Marko in case of any unrest within the team.
In a surprising turn of events, it has been reported in the Brazilian media that there is a rift in the Austrian team. Marko is allegedly being pushed out by none other than Horner.
At first it was hard not to take any such report with a pinch of salt, but now it seems Sky Sports Germany is corroborating the story too. The endorsement has come from Ralf Schumacher, one of the more prominent presenters on the F1 paddock.
According to Schumacher, Horner would be well advised to not take the conflict further because Marko seems to have an ally in Max Verstappen. He went on to claim that Max Verstappen would side with Marko in case things went south within Red Bull.
"Unrest causes performance to suffer," Ralf said. "That's why you should be very careful and think about what you have achieved together. Horner would be well advised not to put any further pressure on him. That wouldn't end well for him."
"The connection between Dr. Marko and Verstappen should not be underestimated," he added. "Dr. Marko promoted him very early on and is always on his side. We hear that Verstappen would not tolerate it, but I could rather do without Horner."
Ralf instead advised Horner to just wait it out as Marko might not want to take the strain of the job for much longer. He said:
"Dr. Marko will no longer want the stress of traveling to race tracks around the world."
Ralf talks about internal strains involving Horner and Marko, with Max Verstappen potentially getting involved
Ralf also claimed that the relationship strain comes from the consistent controversies that tend to accompany Helmut Marko. He feels that might be something that has forced Horner's hand.
"Dr. Marko was always the link between Salzburg, the interests of the team, but also the interests of Didi Mateschitz and was the advisor," Ralf said. "Horner was hired by Dr. Marko at the time, but he was and is 'not without controversy in Salzburg.'"
"You shouldn't forget that the Thai shareholder has slightly different interests," he added. "Apparently, Horner is more oriented towards Thailand at the moment because he had a difficult life in Salzburg."
