‘Beginning of the end’ – Ex-F1 star convinced Max Verstappen’s Red Bull destined to fail with ongoing Horner feud

GERHARD BERGER believes Red Bull are destined to fail if Christian Horner and Helmut Marko continue feuding.

The duo have locked horns on numerous occasions throughout the past two seasons, with Horner even reportedly wanting Marko out in 2023.

Christian Horner has been under pressure over the last year

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has locked horns with Horner over team choices

The feud could affect Max Verstappen’s bid for a fifth straight title

This continued into last year with the pair clashing over Red Bull’s driver line up for the upcoming season.

Marko, who is a senior adviser at Red Bull and head of the driver development programme, is said to have preferred Liam Lawson while Horner was keen on Franco Colapinto after he replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams.

Berger, who was the first F1 driver to be sponsored by Red Bull and later co-owned Toro Rosso, said: “It is often the beginning of the end when such topics dominate.

“Formula 1 is so complex and so competitive that you can only be successful if everyone in the team puts their shoulders to the wheel, if everyone agrees and communicates well with each other.”

“The Red Bull brand always exudes happiness and a cool image. Suddenly everything changed.

“Completely atypical for the team, there were no more clear statements.”

Marko also stuck the knife in when saying that Max’s dad Jos was a “bigger fan” of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff than Horner last term.

The father of Red Bull’s star driver Max Verstappen publicly called for Horner to leave the team last season after he had been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a female colleague.

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Horner was cleared by a Red Bull investigation, but Wolff publicly tried to sign the reigning world champion amid the unrest.

Berger has also slammed Red Bull’s handling of Sergio Perez’s exit after the Mexican driver’s chaotic season.

Gerhard Berger has a history with Red Bull Racing

Perez suffered a disastrous fourth and final season with Red Bull last year as he finished on 152 points to his team-mate Verstappen’s 437, which put a massive dent in Red Bull Constructors’ Championship hopes.

When asked about the situation with Perez, Berger added: “You could see that things were no longer working well.

“Nobody in this business understood that he was given another contract then.

“There could have been reasons like marketing or the contract situation.

“But when things did not improve after that, they gave him three more races and then two more, and refused to take a decision.

“I couldn’t see a clear line there. In Mateschitz’s time, Red Bull was always known for its clarity.”