Berger predicts: 'Horner stays, Marko, Newey and Verstappen leave'

Gerhard Berger suspects Red Bull Racing is going to fall apart. The former Toro Rosso team principal (now Visa Cash App RB) predicted to F1-Insider that Christian Horner - backed by Red Bull's Thai co-owner - will stay on and three other very important forces will leave.

Berger predicts what lies ahead at Red Bull: "Horner stays, Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey leave and Max goes to Mercedes," said the Austrian, who is considered a good friend of Marko. For example, it was Red Bull that entered the DTM in 2021 when the then boss asked if Red Bull could help them keep the championship viable.

Red Bull would be divided into two camps in recent months, with Horner and Red Bull's Thai major shareholder (51 per cent) on one side and Austrian-headquartered Red Bull GmbH on the other. The latter reportedly would rather lose the British team boss than get rid of him. Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko did not take sides in the issue in Bahrain, but they want calm to return as soon as possible so that the focus can return to Formula 1 performance.

Jos Verstappen earlier spoke clear words to Mail Sport. "There is tension here as long as he remains in his position. The team is in danger of falling apart. It cannot continue like this. It will explode. He is playing the victim, while he is the one causing the problems." Verstappen sr. would no longer even rule out a switch of Max to Mercedes.

Horner absent on Jos' birthday

According to The Daily Mail, Horner was therefore not invited to Jos' birthday party. The rest of the Red Bull top brass did attend. Verstappen sr. celebrated his 52nd birthday at a luxury hotel in Dubai, along with Max, manager Raymond Vermeulen and Helmut Marko. According to Bild, Horner did stay in Dubai at the time of the party. However, Jos and Max were also not present last year when Horner celebrated his 50th birthday, so this does not necessarily mean much immediately.