Helmut Marko has described Christian Horner’s new book, Drive, as a “collection of untruths”, but the Austrian refused to address specific criticisms of him made by the ex-Red Bull team principal.

Marko, 83, was a special adviser to Red Bull but was let go by the team at the end of last year, bringing to an end an association that was longer than Horner’s.

But like Horner, Marko has continued to have his say on what went wrong. Days after he departed the company last December, Marko accused his former colleague of “dirty games” and of trying to “cosy up” to Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Red Bull co-founder, in an attempt to outmanoeuvre the Austrian half of the company.

Now a new war of words has erupted after extracts from Horner’s book, which will be released on October 22, made their way into the public domain. In an interview with Bild, the octogenarian said he was unimpressed by Horner’s revelations. “The book is a collection of untruths, which I don’t want to discuss in detail.”

How did their relationship break down?

A former racer and Le Mans winner, Marko founded the RSM Marko Formula 3000 team in 1984, which became the Red Bull Junior Team. Marko later helped advise Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull co-founder, when the company bought the Jaguar Formula One team and made Horner the sport’s youngest ever team principal in 2005.

Marko continued to advise Mateschitz until his death in 2022, precipitating a power struggle over the next few years that ended with Horner and then Marko being relieved of their duties in 2025.

The relationship between Marko and Horner, which had always been strained, broke down completely in those final years, and Horner’s new book contains various allegations.

What does Horner say?

Horner said in his book he never knew quite where he stood with Marko. He described him as a “complicated person” and that he was never sure what his role was, with that “nebulous” job description of “adviser”. “Having facilitated my arrival, I got the feeling that Helmut felt owed,” he wrote.

Horner also alleged that Marko was “cold and ruthless” with junior drivers and indiscreet with sensitive information. “I raised the issue with Helmut many times, and he always argued his innocence,” Horner said.

“Sometimes he denied having spoken at all, even in those instances when he’d been quoted directly and on the record. When our press officers tried to discuss the matter with him, Helmut brazenly claimed he was beyond their control. Soon enough, we became very selective about the type of information that was discussed in his company.”

Horner was particularly hurt by Marko’s treatment of him when he was fired in July last year, a sacking that came days after the death of his ex-partner Beverley Allen.

“A few days earlier [Marko] had stayed at my house and spent time with my family, yet not a word had been said,” he writes.

What does Marko object to?

It is unclear from speaking to Bild whether Marko has actually read the entire book or only the specific extracts and quotes that have featured in advance reviews.

We know he objects to the suggestion in Drive that he initially resisted signing Max Verstappen to Red Bull, allegedly complaining to Horner that “The father’s a nightmare … We don’t need this one”.

After Ralf Schumacher queried that version of events at the recent F1 race in Malaysia, calling Horner’s comments an “absolute lie” and telling Sky Germany that “Marko approached Max when he was just 11-and-a-half years old”, Marko chimed in.

“I’m ignoring it as much as possible. Ralf Schumacher handled it very well,” Marko told Austrian outlet OE24. “I brought Max into Formula One and had to stand my ground against Horner at his first race for Red Bull in Barcelona. He thought Max was too young, too inexperienced.”

Horner, for his part, says those passages have been quoted in isolation and that he is clear in the book that he gives credit to Marko for identifying Verstappen. He does say, however, that this only firmed up his interest after Mercedes’ Niki Lauda showed up.

“When Niki showed an interest in Max’s development, Helmut suddenly changed his tune,” Horner wrote. “(He’d also witnessed Max, first hand, during an incredible 2014 FIA Formula Three round at the Norisring in Nuremberg, Germany, when he had won all three rounds.) Unlike Mercedes, we were able to give him a drive immediately, which was a significant factor in his decision to sign with Red Bull. Finalising the deal became a personal victory for Helmut, and he was delighted to get it across the line.”

Where does it go from here?

Because Horner and Marko are out of the sport, their war of words feels of limited significance. Neither can really discuss what happened in the final years anyway, especially with regard to the internal investigation into Horner’s behaviour and how that came about, since both have signed non-disclosure agreements as part of their Red Bull settlements.

Horner is hoping for an F1 return at some point, though, so he will not want a long-running feud in the media.

Marko may yet have other things to say, however. He has not yet addressed suggestions made by Horner that he – “apparently on behalf of the Verstappen management team” – advised against signing Fernando Alonso or Charles Leclerc to replace Sergio Pérez, for instance.

There was an interesting line in the Bild piece about the date of the publication of Horner’s book, though. October 22 is the fourth anniversary of Mateschitz’s death. “What Horner is selling as a tribute is seen within the Austrian company as a deliberate provocation,” Bild claims. “It’s the beginning of a rivalry that’s once again gaining momentum.”

It is unclear how that tallies with Horner’s recent revelation that both shareholders – Mark Mateschitz and Chalerm Yoovidhya – independently contacted him after Red Bull’s recent victories in Malaysia and Singapore with a powertrain he helped to develop.

Horner told The Race that Oliver Mintzlaff, the Red Bull chief executive, “very graciously called me after the race in Singapore to thank me for what I’ve put together and what they’ve gone on to achieve.”