There is about an hour left until the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, but everyone's eyes and attention are turned inside the paddock, where Red Bull's Beautiful-style soap opera continues to provide twists and turns between the two factions involved.
If last night it seemed he was one step away from definitively leaving the scene, Helmut Marko – the team's historic consultant and a person very close to the Verstappen family, accused of having facilitated the release of confidential information in the media regarding the team's internal investigation of Milton Keynes on team principal Christian Horner – today the situation has changed again.
In fact, Marko confirmed to Sky Deutschland that he will continue to work at Red Bull. This decision came after a conversation with Oliver Mintzlaff, head of the sports area for the Red Bull GmbH group. Speaking to German television, Marko underlined that calm must return to the team.
His possible farewell yesterday had provoked the vehement reaction of Max Verstappen, who had publicly questioned his future in Red Bull without the presence at his side of the mentor who played a fundamental role in his arrival in F1 and in the first team ' of the Austrian giant. “We agree on all points – declared Marko – I will continue to work here. My contract still has three years. But there is a need for calm.”
The 80-year-old manager from Graz then expressed words of true and sincere gratitude towards Verstappen, whose personal exposure certainly facilitated Horner's stay in Milton Keynes. “He was really impressive. I am very grateful to him for everything. He is one of the few who has strength of character and demonstrates loyalty.” Finally, Marko defined as “nonsense” the hypothesis that the leak regarding the Horner case originated from him. In the morning, the German website F1-Insider, which was the first to give space to the story, also denied this.
Oliver Mintzlaff for his part refused to give interviews, but declared that the chat he had with Marko went smoothly and that he also wants calm to return to the team. Tomorrow he will fly to Dubai to meet the Thai component of the Red Bull group, which holds 51% of the shares.
#Red #Bull #Marko #stays #meeting #Mintzlaff #decisive
