Helmut Marko opens up on Red Bull civil war amid Christian Horner 'sex text' scandal as the power struggle between the pair rumbles on - and he REFUSES to guarantee his own future at the team

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has commented on the ongoing power struggle within the team.

The reigning world champions have been engulfed in chaos so far this season with  Christian Horner - who earns £8million a year as team principal - the subject of an internal investigation in February after accusations of 'coercive behaviour' towards a female colleague were made against him, before he was cleared.

However, several messages that were alleged to be between Horner and his accuser were then leaked via anonymous email, adding further furore to the whole situation. The bombshell email - which was sent to leading F1 figures - contained 79 documents, including hundreds of messages, many of them of a sexual nature.

The Red Bull chief, husband of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, denies all the allegations and has insisted he will stay in his role. Jos Verstappen, father of Red Bull's star driver Max, is among those who called for Horner to go.

Horner's future is believed to be tied to an ongoing power struggle within Red Bull following the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022.

It has been reported that Mateschitz's family - who own 49 per cent of the team - have been in conflict with the Thai side of the business, led by Chalerm Yoovidhya, who hold a controlling 51 per cent stake.

The Thai side are believed to have backed Horner to stay in his role throughout the whole saga.

This has led speculation about the future of Marko, who is believed to side with Mateschitz's family, while Mail Sport also reported Verstappen has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave the team if the 80-year-old is sacked.

However, the Austrian - who is Verstappen's mentor - played down speculation of a rift among the team's hierarchy and said he would be cheering them on this weekend.

'I’m flying to Japan,' Marko told Austria outlet Laola1. 'For the Thai shareholders, everything is clear.

'Everything is fine for them. Whether anything else will come or not – no idea.

'It is a very complex matter that is difficult to understand.'

When pressed on his own future, which has come to the fore after Marko admitted last month that he might be suspended from his role for allegedly leaking evidence in the Horner investigation, Marko added: 'Well…

'I would say, there are always conversations and discussions. My direct supervisor is Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff…

'Right now we have other concerns than what I’m doing.'

Speaking last week, despite speculation surrounding his future at Red Bull, Verstappen - who was pictured in conversation with Marko and Horner at the Australian Grand Prix - hinted that he won't be leaving.

'At the moment nobody is afraid of that (me leaving), I think,' he told Dutch outlet AD. 'Two weeks back, though? That may be.

'But some people also read a lot, I don’t. And I think in general that does help.

'That’s what I do try to tell people, yes, that they better not read it all for a while, certain things.

'And if there are any questions, anyone in the team can always call me.'