Oliver Mintzlaff comes to Max Verstappen’s aid: Horner and Marko in calmer waters and introduction of a new design trio!

Although Horner-gate is not over yet, things are currently entering calmer waters. Attention is once again focused on what is happening on the circuit and not on political matters. This is partly a result of the involvement of Oliver Mintzlaff, who is emerging as a kind of peacemaker. The director of Red Bull GmbH, who took over the Austrian company together with Franz Watzlawick and Alexander Kirchmayr after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, has in fact intervened not only to protect Max Verstappen, who also ended up at the center of important transfer rumors, but also Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. They were the two most talked about figures at Red Bull recently, whose future at Red Bull fell into limbo.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko

Affiliated with Red Bull
In an interview Bild gave over the weekend in Miami, Oliver Mintzlaff stated: “Marko at Mercedes? I think this is out of the question. Helmut is closely associated with Red Bull and we owe him a lot. He also had the courage to bring Verstappen to Formula 1 at the age of seventeen.” The discussion then also turned to Christian Horner. The controversial Red Bull team boss was acquitted of all charges against him at the end of February in the sexual scandal in which he was more than played the leading role for two months. His ‘acquittal’ was even reconfirmed by Red Bull owner Yoovidhya: “I am convinced that we will still win together with him. Horner only thinks about winning with the team and is an excellent CEO.”

Correct and respectful
Finally, Mintzlaff also commented on the farewell of Adrian Newey, who will leave Red Bull next year after twenty years of great success: “He played an important role in winning thirteen world titles, and it is of course a shame that he is leaving. We discussed everything in a very correct and respectful conversation. He leaves behind not only a unique legacy, but also a structure that he helped build. He will be missed, but we will still be able to build very fast cars.”

New design trio
With Newey out of the picture, the reigning F1 world champion has immediately worked to bring new key players into the spotlight with the Wachè-Waterhouse-Balbo trio. Their task is to make Newey’s iconic name fade away and prove that Red Bull can design a perfect F1 car even without him, so that Max Verstappen can continue to win Grands Prix for Red Bull and continue his F1 success. world championships. This especially applies to the 2026 Red Bull car, because it was developed by Red Bull Powertrains with the new rear engine, which is quite a task!

Are you already a free subscriber to our RaceXpress YouTube channel? And do you want to enjoy even more wonderful racing action from Formula 1 or car and motor sports or karting? Then subscribe to our RaceXpress YouTube channel!