Ted Kravitz issues verdict on ‘baffling’ Red Bull power struggle rumours

Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz was caught off-guard by rumours of a feud between Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner, saying there has been zero sign of that in the paddock.

Rumours originating from Brazil ahead of the United States Grand Prix had placed Horner as part of an attempted coup to oust Marko from the team.

Both Marko and Horner firmly denied talk of tension between them, as well as the suggestion that a meeting was looming to determine Marko’s fate.

Ted Kravitz baffled by Christian Horner-Helmut Marko rumours

Kravitz would address this apparent situation via his Ted’s Notebook programme, admitting that word had not reached the paddock of any power struggle going on between the two Red Bull figures, while their interactions at the US Grand Prix did not suggest it either.

It is a narrative then which Kravitz simply finds “baffling”.

“Helmut Marko and the supposed row with Christian Horner, now, what is going on?” Kravitz began.

“I haven’t heard this in the paddock rumour mill. We’ve seen no evidence of any row between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, they’re tight buddies, they have lunch every day together.

“And so when Helmut Marko was interviewed, I think by an Austrian newspaper, OE24, he was asked about a rumoured rift between him and Christian Horner, which I didn’t know was a thing.

“And he said ‘I have a contract with Red Bull until’, to be clear, even though he’s the director of Red Bull Racing Helmut Marko, he is employed by Red Bull GmbH in Austria, ‘I have a contract with Red Bull until the end of next year, when and how I stop, when it is over, I decide and not for example, Mr. Horner’.

“So how’s he exposing some massive rift? That doesn’t look like it is a rift with Christian Horner, it’s all rather baffling. I don’t get it, because they look for all the world like bezzie mates.

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“And obviously Max Verstappen was asked about this on Thursday, Max was saying ‘Look, obviously you don’t break up a winning team. Nobody’s leaving this team’. So why was he asked and why did he give that slightly techy answer? I just don’t get it.

“If you want me to look into it, I will, so tell me somehow. Life’s a bit too short, so I don’t really…I’ve got other fish to fry and boxes to look into.

“But, if it turns out that Helmut Marko does indeed leave his post at the end of this year, rather than at the end of next year when his contract runs out, then you’ll know what was happening at the moment was something.

“And if he doesn’t, then it wasn’t. That’s probably the easiest way to explain. It’s all a bit baffling.

“But the crucial thing is Max Verstappen was saying, who is very close with Helmut Marko, ‘I don’t want him to leave, he was instrumental in the making of me and my development, he’s a good lad to have around and I want him to stay.'”

Verstappen would win the United States Grand Prix, his 15th victory of the F1 2023 campaign and Red Bull’s 17th overall.

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