Helmut Marko slams Christian Horner’s autobiography Drive

The fallout from Drive

Helmut Marko called Christian Horner’s autobiography, Drive, an embarrassment on the fourth anniversary of Dietrich Mateschitz’s death. The former Red Bull advisor dismissed the contents of the book, which released on 22 October, as a collection of untruths of a low calibre. Horner uses the memoir to accuse Marko of leaking sensitive intellectual and operational details to the press. This interference allegedly caused Adrian Newey to become so frustrated that senior staff began withholding information from Marko during meetings. Horner recounts his 2025 dismissal. He claims Marko and Oliver Mintzlaff used the corporate line "it’s about the can" to explain the decision. Marko disputes Horner’s claim that he never reached out following the death of Beverly, Horner’s ex-partner, last year. Marko provided a message on his phone to Krone to support his assertion that he offered condolences. The rivalry between the two former allies makes the Red Bull leadership structure a site of public contention. The rift between the pair traces back to the power struggle that followed the death of Mateschitz in October 2022, which split the team between the camp of Horner and the Austrian faction led by Marko. This division saw Horner backed by majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya. Horner described all contact with Marko as having gone silent since his final day at the factory. He insisted their parting handshake was the last word exchanged between them.

Faulty driver promotions

Horner blames Marko for the premature promotion of Red Bull junior drivers into the senior Formula 1 team. He specifically names Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Liam Lawson as drivers who arrived too early in their development. These drivers faced immense pressure in difficult cars against generational talents, which Horner says made success almost impossible. After being dropped from the senior team, Albon moved to Williams following significant work from Horner to secure him that seat. Pierre Gasly was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull for 2019 but returned to the sister team after 12 rounds of racing. Liam Lawson scored 61 points for Racing Bulls this season but returned to AlphaTauri after competing in only two races for Red Bull in 2025.

Horner told the High Performance Podcast that Marko wanted to promote young drivers quickly to justify the existence of the junior program. He noted that drivers like Gasly and Albon needed more time to evolve before facing intense scrutiny. Daniil Kvyat faced a similar situation in 2016 when he was sent back to Toro Rosso after being replaced by Max Verstappen. Horner noted that Albon did not return to Formula 1 until 2022 when he signed with Williams. This internal tension reflects the breakdown of the Red Bull hierarchy.

Hamilton and future talents

The feud also involves details from 2012 regarding Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Horner claims he held early discussions with Hamilton’s management before advising Niki Lauda to sign the driver for Mercedes. Red Bull senior figures, including Dietrich Mateschitz, declined the move to sign Hamilton because they preferred to retain Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Horner told Sky Sports’ The F1 Show Podcast that there was no enthusiasm within the team to pay for the massive deal Simon Fuller proposed. Mercedes was struggling at the time after purchasing the Brawn team and had spent years with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Horner recalled that during the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton suffered a gearbox failure while leading, which helped convince Mercedes to sign him.

Horner also discussed Max Verstappen. He described the driver as having an abnormal talent. This year, Verstappen is not in a title fight for the first time since 2020. Kimi Antonelli now seeks to break Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest world champion at 20 years old during the United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin. Horner expressed interest in seeing Antonelli go head to head with Verstappen in future seasons. He also joked that Guenther Steiner made a career from the Netflix series Drive to Survive. He noted that Steiner never achieved a podium in Formula 1.