Horner claims Marko didn't want Verstappen at Red Bull: 'We don't need this one'

Christian Horner says Helmut Marko did not want Max Verstappen at Red Bull at first. In his upcoming autobiography Drive, the former Red Bull team principal writes that Marko was reluctant to bring the teenage Dutchman into the team, and that the problem was his father, Jos.

It comes as Verstappen and Red Bull hit good form. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix he finished second, 0.196 seconds behind George Russell. Isack Hadjar was third, giving Red Bull its first double podium since April 2024.

According to reports Horner recalls that Marko called Jos Verstappen "a nightmare" when signing Max was first discussed. Marko then added:

This goes against the common view that Marko was the one who handled the relationship with Jos. Horner's own relationship with Jos, by contrast, had cooled a great deal.

It also sits awkwardly with how the signing is usually told. It is frequently reported that Toto Wolff and Mercedes had first suggested Verstappen spend 2015 in GP2, while Marko pushed through an immediate Toro Rosso seat, as the team had a vacant seat while Mercedes still had Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton signed to long-term deals.

When Horner was asked about his own mistakes at Milton Keynes, he pointed to Marko again, this time over how the Austrian dealt with young drivers.

The Times claims the book paints Marko as an "abrasive, erratic, cold, unreliable, ruthless and fundamentally disloyal operator". Horner does give him credit for his own break. "If you wind the clock back, he gave me the initial opportunity," he said. But he argues that after Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz died, Marko "didn't really have a function."

Horner also says Marko's coldness caught him off guard when Horner himself was dismissed. "A few days earlier he'd stayed at my house and spent time with my family, yet not a word had been said," he said.

Red Bull sacked Horner in July 2025 and replaced him with Laurent Mekies. Marko left at the end of that season. The team announced his departure shortly after Verstappen lost the title to Lando Norris by two points. Officially, Marko retired but other factors played a part, including Red Bull's Austrian parent company taking more control of its F1 operations.

Marko gave his own version at the time. He told De Limburger Horner had "lied" about several claims attributed to him and had played "dirty games". In the coverage available, neither Marko nor the Verstappen camp had yet responded to what Horner says in the book.