Helmut Marko delivers Red Bull saga update with Max Verstappen now ‘disengaged’

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has said Max Verstappen “disengaged” himself of the off-track saga surrounding the team, after team principal Christian Horner was investigated following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by an employee.

The claims were dismissed after an internal investigation by Red Bull GmbH concluded at the end of February, with Horner having always denied the allegations against him, but Marko told an Austrian publication that, to his knowledge, the case ‘is not yet legally settled’.

Helmut Marko issues Red Bull update as Max Verstappen ‘concentrates on racing’

The complainant chose to lodge an appeal after the results of the internal investigation were published, and was suspended on full pay by Red Bull while that process took place.

The continued questioning around the team had even led to Verstappen’s future being put up for debate, despite being under contract with Red Bull until 2028, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff putting him at the top of his wish-list to replace Lewis Hamilton next season.

Marko praised the reigning World Champion for not having let the subject matter affect him, given he has often been on the end of questions surrounding the investigation this season.

“Max disengaged himself out of it and is concentrated on racing. So he did a very good job,” Marko told Austrian publication OE24.

The publication wrote that ‘to [Marko’s] knowledge, the matter between Horner and [the Red Bull employee] is not yet legally settled’, but the team’s motorsport advisor added: “But that is something you have to put aside, especially in a situation where you are so challenged as a team and technically and everyone has to pull together.”

More on Christian Horner and Red Bull

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For Verstappen’s part, publicly at least, he has long since looked to put the results of the internal investigation aside and concentrate on on-track matters, saying Red Bull’s parent company handled matters “in the right way” at the time.

“I don’t want to always be too involved with these kinds of things,” he told reporters at the Australian Grand Prix back in March.

“Because at the end of the day, I’m the driver and I’m here to look at the performance side of things. That’s what I’m hired for.

“But from what I know, everything was handled in the right way. I’m not going into any further details from that side because I don’t know more than that and I also don’t want to know, because that’s not my job or my task within the team.”

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