Marko admits 'differences of opinion' at Red Bull

Oct.21 (GMM) There is no problem with a supposed power struggle at the otherwise dominant Red Bull team, world champion Max Verstappen insists.

In Austin, the Dutchman had already dismissed the rumours of potentially terminal disagreements between bosses Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko as “BS”.

But some sources believe Verstappen’s intervention, given his close ties to 80-year-old Marko, had effectively ended any push by Horner to oust the Austrian.

“The trust that we have – that of course I have in Helmut and Helmut has in me – is very important,” the 26-year-old team driver told Sky Italia on Friday.

“But it’s the same with Christian as well. After Dietrich (Mateschitz) died last year, a few new captains from the Austrian side were added,” said Max. “But that’s good.

“And we have spoken about it. Everything actually stays the same as we did before. Everyone stays together, in the same roles. That’s also important for us.”

As for Marko, he thinks much of the noise about the supposed power struggle was simply invented by a bored media contingent, hungry for a story.

“I think we’re winning too much!” he said in Austin. “There’s no real news here and now something is being played up.

“In general, the structure and the climate in the team is fine. It’s clear that there are some small differences of opinion, but everything works out.”

Marko also admits that there were initially a few problems with Mateschitz’s successor, new Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, was appointed.

“It is logical that a company has to adapt and position itself somewhat differently,” he said, referring to the death of his friend and partner Mateschitz.

“But this has nothing to do with how we work and how we treat one another.”

He said his relationship with Briton Horner, the team principal at Red Bull Racing, is also intact.

“We’ve known each other for 27 years,” said Marko. “We built this up together.

“The division of labour is Christian doing the operational side, I’m more into the strategy. It’s good and it’s worked so far and we’ll see that it works in the future too.”