Helmut Marko breaks silence following Christian Horner sacking

Helmut Marko has released a statement following the sacking of Christian Horner from his position as Red Bull CEO and team principal. Horner was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, 9th July, after 20 years at the helm of Red Bull and was promptly replaced by Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies.  The likes of Max Verstappen and Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull GmbH's CEO of corporate projects, issued statements following Horner's dismissal, but motorsport advisor Marko had not done so, despite working closely with Horner throughout his time with the team.  Tensions between the pair were known to be frought at times, but the veteran Austrian has broken his silence, over 24 hours on from Horner's shock dismissal.  "Christian and I have worked together very successfully for over 20 years – both in Formula 1 and in Formula 3000," began Marko's statement. "I would like to sincerely thank Christian for that. During this time, we were able to celebrate an incredible number of outstanding achievements.  "We helped develop two World Drivers' Champions and several Grand Prix winners. That has always been – and still is – the Red Bull way.  "As for the current sporting situation: there are still 12 races to go, and we will continue to fight for the Drivers' Championship as long as it's mathematically possible." Verstappen finds himself 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri at the halfway mark of the season, almost three full grands prix worth of points, with 25 on offer at each race.