Marko: Basically, it’s about bringing calm to the team now

Dr Helmut Marko has slammed the latest rumours linking Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team with a takeover.

A specialist news source in Japan reported this week that axed Haas boss Gunther Steiner could be fronting an investor group that is eyeing RB - formerly known as Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri.

But Marko, Red Bull’s top Austrian F1 consultant, says the rumours aren’t true.

"I really don’t understand where these things keep coming from," he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "Everything has been clarified and settled with the shareholders."

What is not settled, however, is the obvious leadership power struggle taking place at Red Bull at present - which could explain the latest RB sale rumours.

The saga has been publicly quieter for several weeks now.

"Basically, it’s about bringing calm to the team now," Marko insists. "And that’s urgently needed. As we saw in Australia, Ferrari is there when we don’t deliver.

"Other factors played a role in that, but our goal has to be the fourth world championship title in a row. Everything else is subordinate to that."

There is no doubt, however, that Red Bull Racing - and even higher up within the famous energy drink company - has effectively split into two camps.

On one side is Christian Horner and the 51 percent Thai shareholding faction, with the Austrian side - with 80-year-old Marko within that camp - on the other.

"That’s politics," Marko said, "and I’m not concerned with it at the moment. It’s all about winning the world championship."

At the height of the intrigue earlier this year, it was rumoured that Max Verstappen might even quit the team.

The triple world champion recently publicly backed his mentor Marko.

"That was a really big sign of loyalty," Marko said. "And I don’t take that for granted at all, especially in this day and age.

"But Max is just so incredibly focused. He doesn’t need a team around him to help him in these situations. He is an exceptional phenomenon at only 26 years old and goes his own way - and that’s a very good thing."