Oliver Mintzlaff distances himself from Marko's Horner accusations
F1 NewsMonday, 22 December 2025 at 19:34
Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull GmbH's Managing Director, commented on recent claims from Helmut Marko that former Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner played dirty games and sought full control of the team following the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Following his exit from his role as Red Bull's motorsport consultant, Marko accused Horner of trying to take full control of Red Bull Racing following the passing of Mateschitz by cozying up to the company's Thai co-owner,
Chalerm Yoovidhya.
Chalerm Yoovidhya.
Marko also claimed that he did all he could to stop him while also blaming him for Max Verstappen's inability to win the 2025 Formula 1 title.
However, in an interview with De Telagraaf, Mintzlaff refused to endorse the Austrian's statements; he said: "Those words about Christian are Helmut's responsibility.
"I can’t say anything negative about Christian. Simply because he has meant a lot to Red Bull. But there always comes a time when things aren’t going well, and then, as a company, you have to make a decision.
Marko has changed over the years
"Are you going to give someone more time, or is it time for a new leader? We felt it was time for a change. I disagree with Helmut’s statements. Yes, it’s logical that things change in an organization. Perhaps Dr. Marko has also changed over the years.
"I think it’s quite normal that not everything is the same as it was five years ago. Christian and Helmut have worked together wonderfully for years, since the start in 2005, so we’re talking about more than 20 years.
"Give me a few examples of other large sports organizations where the leadership team has remained the same for so long. So you can view it very negatively that they are both gone now.
"But I would say that it is unique that they have been here together for so long and achieved so much. Sometimes you just need a change to shake things up," he said.
Whether the reason was the sexting scandal, or the politics, or the lack of results, Horner ended up fired from the role he performed for almost 20 years, and probably for all the aforementioned reasons combined.
Decision to fire Horner wasn't rushed, Laurent Mekies did well
Mintzlaff shed light on how Red Bull came to the decision of letting the Briton go: "I wouldn’t call it a risk, because we were 100% behind this measure.
"We knew we had to do something. I’m not a so-called hire-and-fire manager, someone who fires people just like that.
"Christian has a great track record with the team and has achieved a lot of success. Everyone here in the company, myself included, appreciates him for what he has done. But this is also part of being a professional organization.
"You can’t keep relying on history, and we felt it was time to turn the page and start a new chapter. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we didn’t rush into it either," the Red Bull top man insisted in conclusion.
Horner has been replaced at the helm by Laurent Mekies who was promoted from Racing Bulls and oversaw a midseason resurgence that saw Verstappen claw back a 104 point deficit in the Drivers' Championship and missed out to McLaren's Lando Norris by only two points.
Mekies has been credited for the good job he did, and 1997 F1 Champion Jacques Villeneuve is one of those who believed the Frenchman made a difference. He said: "Laurent Mekies has done a good job taking the reins of this team so quickly.
"It's not easy to jump into a team when there's a lot of chaos going on. To walk in there and be respected and make sure that the boat still floats and is going in the right direction or in a better direction takes some doing," he added.
(Jacques Villeneuve quotes from PokerScout)
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