Red Bull’s 2016 decision resurfaces as Horner’s memoir looms
Helmut Marko has rejected Christian Horner’s account of how Max Verstappen reached Red Bull’s senior team, insisting that he was the architect of the Dutchman’s rise and that Horner was the one who doubted it.
The dispute, which dates back to the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, has resurfaced days before the publication of Horner’s autobiography.
What Marko Said
Marko, now 83 and retired from his role as Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, made his latest public comments to the Austrian outlet OE24. Asked about Horner’s version of events, he said he was ignoring it as much as possible, but offered a pointed counter-account.
He said he brought Verstappen into Formula 1 and had to stand his ground against Horner at the driver’s first race for Red Bull in Barcelona. In his words, Horner believed Verstappen was too young and too inexperienced.
The Book Behind the Row
The remarks are a direct response to Drive, Horner’s memoir, which is due for release on 22 October. According to reports ahead of publication, the former Red Bull team principal claims that Marko did not want Verstappen at the team and that the team did not need a young Verstappen.
Those claims have not been independently verified, and this report has not seen the full text of the book. Horner has been out of Formula 1 since Red Bull dismissed him in July 2025.
Schumacher Backs Marko’s Version
Marko’s account has support from a familiar voice. Ralf Schumacher, speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, rejected Horner’s version in the strongest terms, describing it as an absolute lie.
Schumacher said Marko approached the Verstappen family when Max was only around eleven and a half years old, and that Jos Verstappen felt the timing was too early. Marko largely agreed with that recollection and praised the way Schumacher handled the subject.
The 2016 Promotion in Context
The decision at the centre of the dispute is one of the most consequential driver moves of the modern era. Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2015 at the age of 17.
After four races of the 2016 season, Red Bull moved Daniil Kvyat back to Toro Rosso and promoted Verstappen, then 18, to partner Daniel Ricciardo.
Marko has told this story before. In May, he told De Telegraaf that Horner was against promoting Verstappen after only four races, and that the move drew criticism from rivals and critics who considered the teenager too young and the decision dangerous.
Marko said he secured the approval of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz and then contacted Jos Verstappen. He also acknowledged that Kvyat’s struggles had made it clear the team had to act.
The outcome is a matter of record. Verstappen won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his Red Bull debut, finishing ahead of the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. At 18 years of age, he became the youngest winner in the history of the sport.
His victory was aided by a first-lap collision between Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, which removed both cars from the race, but Marko has pointed to the maturity Verstappen showed under pressure.
The promotion also had a cost elsewhere in the Red Bull family. Carlos Sainz, Verstappen’s team-mate at Toro Rosso at the time, was very disappointed at being overlooked, according to Marko.
That detail underlines how contested the decision was inside the Red Bull system.
A Wider Breakdown at Red Bull
The exchange is part of a wider breakdown in relations. Marko and Horner worked together at the top of Red Bull for roughly two decades, but their relationship is widely reported to have deteriorated after the death of Mateschitz.
Horner’s dismissal last year and Marko’s departure from the team have left both men free to give their own versions of the past, and neither has held back.
Marko’s influence over the Red Bull junior programme is central to the story. As the head of the programme, he was responsible for identifying and developing drivers, and Verstappen became the most successful driver to emerge from that system.
That history helps explain why Marko is so protective of his account of the 2016 decision.
For Red Bull, the debate carries weight beyond personal rivalry. Verstappen has since won multiple world championships and remains the defining driver of the team’s recent era, so the question of who backed him, and when, goes to the heart of how the organisation made its single most valuable decision.
It also reflects the internal tensions that have shaped the team since Mateschitz’s death and the leadership changes that followed.
How to Weigh the Claims
Readers should weigh the competing accounts with care. Both versions concern private conversations held a decade ago, and neither can be confirmed by documents or recordings in the public domain. What can be verified is narrower:
Marko has made the same claim in two separate published interviews, Schumacher’s recollection about the early approach has been published independently, and the 2016 timeline of the promotion and the win is well documented. Horner’s response to Marko’s latest remarks had not been published at the time of writing.
What Comes Next
The next milestone is the release of Drive on 22 October, when readers will be able to judge Horner’s wording for themselves. Readers will want to see whether the book offers documents, dates or witnesses that move the debate beyond competing recollections.
Until then, the evidence available points to a genuine disagreement over a decision both men were involved in, with Marko’s account supported by Schumacher on the early approach but not independently confirmed on the Barcelona discussion.
Further responses from both camps are likely once the book is in circulation.
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