Red Bull's Power Struggle Truce Marks New Era
Jun.6 - Dr Helmut Marko says the public heat has gone from Red Bull's obvious leadership power struggle because of his "truce" with Christian Horner.
Marko, the energy drink concern's key F1 consultant who is contracted directly by Red Bull GmbH rather than the team, will be conspicuously absent in Montreal on Friday.
However, he says it's not because there are still efforts to sideline or oust him - but because the state of Styria is presenting him with an award for his services to the region.
"But it's not much use because I'm not going to the Opera Ball," Marko, 81, laughed in an interview with Kronen Zeitung.
More important in Marko's mind is that Red Bull, having dominated the entire 'ground effect' regulations era from 2022 to date, is now being seriously challenged by Ferrari and McLaren.
"We have lost the dominance of the first three races," the Austrian admits. "The competition has caught up in the third year of the current regulations by copying some things and even improving them.
"There is not much room for innovation anymore," Marko lamented. "But this is simply a logical development."
The 2024 car's struggle to handle bumps and high kerbs became painfully clear to Red Bull last time out in Monaco.
"Ferrari is better in this respect," Marko said, "and they're also better in terms of top speed. The fact is, we are not going to Canada as favourites."
However, he says Red Bull is not giving up. "We will combine all our forces," said Dr Marko. "Even if we are no longer dominant, we want to get the maximum out of it and look towards the world championship title."
And to achieve that, Marko says it's important that the internal leadership turmoil and scandal that marred the start of the 2024 campaign is now being managed.
"We have made a truce," Marko said when asked about the conflict with team boss Christian Horner.
Finally, Marko hinted that moves are afoot in Formula 1 to prevent a repeat of the painfully slow and processional Monaco GP that recently took place.
"It was a farce," he admits, "but they are already considering a new layout, also because the atmosphere in Monte Carlo is simply incomparable."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Jos will have another go at Horner.
As soon as Red Bull had their poor race in Monaco up pops Jos stirring trouble again.
I cannot see how Horner having this "inappropriate relationship " with a female employee causes so much turmoil. How does it affect the other employees who are supposed to be professional and just go about doing their jobs.
It was played up by Jos and / or Marko to create unrest because of this power struggle.
And Jos will continue to snipe away publicly any time Red Bull has a poor race. Nothing to do with the other teams copying Red Bull concepts and catching up, no Jos is sniping away to continue the unrest. If Max is not involved in this he needs to tell Jos to shut up.
Jos is a narcissist and desperately jealous of CH one of the best team managers ever who refuses to be told what to do.