Dr Helmut Marko has fiercely dismissed suggestions that his influence within Red Bull has waned, labelling such reports as baseless.
Earlier this week, the prominent Red Bull advisor was quoted as distancing himself from last year's decision to extend Sergio Perez's contract. "That wasn't my decision," he allegedly said. "I didn't choose Perez, Christian (Horner) did."
When pressed on the matter by Austrian broadcaster ORF at Suzuka, Marko was unequivocal and furious. "Absolute nonsense!" he exclaimed. "Nobody even knows the journalist."
The rebuttal comes amid a challenging phase for the once-dominant squad, whose on-track performance has steadily declined alongside significant staff exits and internal discord.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted to exploiting the situation. "Of course, our goal is to be as fast as possible ourselves," he told TechStuff, "but there's also the strategy of destabilising the opponent. If you can unsettle a rival, then it can slow them down while you pick up the pace."
Red Bull's recent woes have largely centred on their driver lineup, with Perez and later Liam Lawson both axed after failing to match Max Verstappen's pace. At Suzuka, Verstappen secured pole position, while Lawson's replacement, Yuki Tsunoda, languished in P15—trailing even Lawson, now back with Racing Bulls.
"Only Max can do that," marvelled Fernando Alonso, praising Verstappen's exceptional qualifying lap.
Marko, however, attributed Tsunoda's result to errors rather than a lack of potential. "Yuki was only two tenths behind Max in practice," he noted. "We haven't had that in a long time. It can now be understood why we swapped. We are completely satisfied."
Verstappen, meanwhile, insisted the team's struggles lie elsewhere. "I have already said that our problem is not with the driver. It's the car," he stated. "The team decides who they put in the car, and I think that's all fine, but we have to keep the focus on the problem, and that is the car."
