Helmut Marko makes bombshell claim accusing Christian Horner of fabricating his remarks disparaging Sergio Perez's background

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko announced his exit from the team at the end of the year after the Abu Dhabi GP. The 82-year-old recently came out after confirming his exit, and accused Christian Horner of fabricating his remarks against Sergio Perez's background.

In September 2023, Helmut Marko made claims about Sergio Perez's qualifying performances and how the Mexican was not performing at the level of Max Verstappen. While the Dutchman dominated and won the race, the Mexican struggled to make the podium. Verstappen ended that season with 19 wins while Perez only had two, which came early in the season.

According to the reports, Marko said, “We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel].”

As Helmut Marko announced his exit from Red Bull after over two successful decades with the Milton-Keynes based team, he sat down with De Telegraaf and discussed things related to the same. The Red Bull advisor accused Christian Horner of fabricating the Sergio Perez comments as he explained,

“But those last years with Horner were not pleasant. Dirty games were played. Do you remember that in Sergio Pérez's time I would have said that Mexicans are less focused than the Dutch or Germans? That was manufactured, maybe by them. Just like I would have spread in 2024 that the development of our engine was behind schedule and that as a result we would lose Ford as our sponsor. Never said, but Horner wanted to use that to suspend me.”

Christian Horner was accused of harassing an employee in early 2024. Following an internal investigation, the former Team Principal wasn't found guilty, and a power struggle with top management, including Marko, happened, eventually resulting in Adrian Newey's exit. Horner was sacked this year after the British GP, and Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko reportedly played a role in the same.

When Helmut Marko apologized for his statement about Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez signed with Red Bull ahead of the 2021 season and had a good first couple of years with the team. However, in 2023, after the first few races, the firm dropped, with Max Verstappen solely carrying the team in the constructors' championship.

Helmut Marko came out after the backlash against the comments he made about Sergio Perez's background and apologized, as he said,

“I would like to apologise for my offensive remark. I want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity. I was trying to make a point that Checo's form has fluctuated this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage.” (via Sevus TV)

Sergio Perez was sacked by the team after the 2024 season despite signing a contract extension earlier that year.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi