Horner contradicts Marko: 'Newey was not involved in that decision'

Marko stated that master designer Newey was against the promotion of Yuki Tsunoda and that Red Bull Racing took that into account when passing over the Japanese driver.

Liam Lawson was then chosen as the replacement for Sergio Perez at the end of the 2024 season, once again overlooking Tsunoda at Racing Bulls. However, according to the Red Bull team principal, Newey was never involved in decisions regarding the driver lineup.

Marko previously stated that Newey in the past was a strong opponent of Tsunoda, especially after an incident at Silverstone in 2022 where Tsunoda was involved in damaging Max Verstappen's car, costing the Dutchman a potential victory.

Since then, the designer has reportedly harbored animosity towards the Japanese driver. However, Marko also admitted that Tsunoda has since shown significant growth and more confidence.

But Horner denies that Newey had any say in Red Bull's driver choice. According to the team principal, Marko's comment was solely related to the incident at Silverstone: "No, Adrian wasn't involved in driver decisions, certainly for this. From the comments that I saw, I think Helmut was referring to an incident back in 2022 at Silverstone.

"Adrian had no input into our driver selection for this year," continued the 51-year-old Brit in conversation with Sky Sports.

In the same conversation, Horner clarified that it is Tsunoda's task to support Verstappen, who is the clear number one at Red Bull, in the title fight. In the first free practice at Suzuka, the Japanese driver made a strong start by only conceding three-tenths to the four-time world champion. In the second free practice, the local hero could not show much due to multiple interruptions from red flags during the session.