Christian Horner has spoken out against the rumours of a power struggle between himself and Helmut Marko earlier this season. Speculation suggested that the Red Bull team principal was hoping to oust the Austrian from his advisor post and take greater control of the F1 operation.
After the paddock had settled back into a rhythm following the summer break, Brazilian news outlet Globo published a report claiming that the reigning Constructors’ Championship victors were the subject of a power struggle between Horner and Marko.
Speaking to PlanetF1 about the rumours, Horner said: “Something like that you have to take with a great deal of humour because, I mean, they’re so far wide of the mark. But, unfortunately, [that’s] the world that we live in.
Somebody writes something on an obscure Brazilian website and, by the time it is translated into four different languages, it suddenly becomes… it takes a traction of its own and, quite often, there’s absolutely nothing to these stories. I think we’ve been around long enough and ugly enough to know not to believe everything you read.”
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According to the initial report, Horner was frustrated with Marko’s public criticism of both Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez and was hoping to oust the Austrian advisor from the set-up, nullifying his influence and granting him more control over the AlphaTauri team.
The Austrian’s handling of the AlphaTauri team this season has been a source of widespread criticism. Marko opted to bring in Nyck de Vries over the winter break off the back of his immense stand-in display for Williams in Monza last season.
However, following a disappointing start to his rookie season, Marko was quickly on De Vries’ back, publicly criticising the Dutch driver’s form before dropping him from the team after a mere ten races in favour of bringing back Daniel Ricciardo.
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Horner was then asked whether or not such rumours can spark paranoia within the team, to which he responded: “Helmut and I have known each other for 27 years. We’ve always had a very strong and open relationship. So, on that, nothing has changed.
“The thing about the relationship is that you don’t have a relationship through the media. The problem is there’s probably not a lot for you guys to be writing about. On something like that, and probably some of our competitors are looking to fan the flames on anything that could destabilise the team.”
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