Helmut Marko has hit back at “someone” who wants to “make themselves important” with a rumour that Christian Horner’s head is on a chopping block at Red Bull.

Horner has been team principal at Red Bull Racing since 2005, guiding the team to eight Drivers’ Championship titles and six Constructors’ crowns.

Helmut Marko: That’s complete nonsense

But according to a report in Italy’s AutoSprint, whether or not he remains at the helm will be determined by this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Having fallen behind McLaren as F1’s leading team, Red Bull introduced a new floor at the Miami Grand Prix before continuing the RB21’s evolution at Imola. The team has changed the sidepod arrangement, the rear suspension, the wheel bodywork and the brake ducts.

And if the upgrades don’t work, claims AutoSprint, Horner is at risk of losing the support of the Thai shareholding in Red Bull GmbH, headed by Chalerm Yoovidhya.

Red Bull, meanwhile, are at risk of losing the number ‘1’ from their car as Max Verstappen is already 32 points off the pace in the Drivers’ standings, while the team are 141 down on McLaren in the Constructors’ standings.

Marko, though, has rubbished the report.

“That’s complete nonsense. Someone seems to want to make themselves important again. For us, everything remains the same,” he told Sky Deutschland.

More on Red Bull’s Imola GP upgrades

👉 Data revealed: Can Red Bull Racing’s Imola upgrades bring the heat to McLaren?

👉 Why Red Bull’s big RB21 Imola upgrade will have everyone taking note

Although Verstappen and his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda were both inside the top 10 in Friday’s practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen was over four-tenths down on pace-setter Oscar Piastri, with Tsunoda a tenth down on his team-mate.

Marko conceded that was a concern.

“Sobering! McLaren is still four-tenths ahead. That’s a lot on this circuit,” he said.

“We have achieved a lot with our updates, but in principle we have not come much closer. The fact remains, McLaren is absolutely superior.”

The upside is he believes the upgrade has resolved the RB21’s understeer issues, the downside is it has created other issues.

“But other problems have arisen,” he explained. “We have considerations, but solutions are not in sight at the moment. We have a fundamental problem.”

A problem that could cost Verstappen the World title.

“The World Championship is becoming more and more unrealistic,” concluded the 82-year-old.

Verstappen also weighed in on the Horner rumours when he spoke with Sky Italia before the weekend, saying: “Honestly, I have no idea where they come from, to be honest. Naturally, I don’t really follow a lot of that.

“People ask me questions about that and I’m like: ‘Honestly, I really don’t know who even puts that in the world.’

“Of course, I think naturally, as a team, we are not entirely happy with how we are performing, but we’re also working on trying to be more competitive.

“But if you ask everyone this question, I think no one is happy or satisfied with their performance, you always want to be better, you want to perform more. That’s what we’re trying to do.

“So, for me, these rumours don’t mean anything.”

Read next: Low [v]carb diet: The updates Racing Bulls have introduced to undercut their rivals