Red Bull Racing’s longtime motorsport advisor Helmut Marko will step down from his role at the end of 2025.
Red Bull confirmed the news on Tuesday, just two days after Max Verstappen missed out on a fifth consecutive title to McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Marko was a close friend of Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in 2022, and was a key part of the brand’s development of young drivers even before it owned an F1 team.
He has been a close ally of Verstappen since signing him to a Red Bull driver contract in 2014, and was also instrumental in the careers of other Red Bull drivers, such as four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
The 82-year-old, who raced in F1 in the 1970s and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1971, confirmed in a statement that he would leave Red Bull at the end of the year.
“I have been involved in motorsport for six decades now, and the past 20-plus years at Red Bull have been an extraordinary and extremely successful journey,” he said. “It has been a wonderful time that I have been able to help shape and share with so many talented people. Everything we have built and achieved together fills me with pride.
“Narrowly missing out on the world championship this season has moved me deeply and made it clear to me that now is the right moment for me personally to end this very long, intense, and successful chapter.
“I wish the entire team continued success and am convinced that they will be fighting for both world championship titles again next year.”
Over recent years, Marko has been at the centre of a power struggle with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who was sacked by the team in July.
Red Bull’s CEO of coporate projects and investments, Oliver Mintzlaff, said he regreted Marko’s decision to stand down.
“Helmut approached me with the wish to end his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the year,” Mintzlaff said. “I deeply regret his decision, as he has been an influential figure for more than two decades, and his departure marks the end of an extraordinary era.
“Over more than 20 years, Helmut has earned incomparable merits for our team and the entire Red Bull motorsport family. He played a decisive role in all key strategic decisions that made Red Bull Racing what it is today: a multiple world champion, an engine of innovation, and a cornerstone of international motorsport.
“After a long and intensive conversation, I knew I had to respect his wishes, as I gained the impression that the timing felt right for him to take this step. Even though his departure will leave a significant gap, our respect for his decision and our gratitude for everything he has done for Red Bull Racing outweigh it.
“Helmut Marko will be deeply missed — both personally and professionally. We wish him all the very best for the future and hope that he will remain closely and warmly connected to the team.”
Marko has often been a controversial figure within Red Bull’s structure and his comments have occasionally been at odds with the team’s official position.
Following the Qatar Grand Prix this year, Marko claimed Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had intentionally given up a position to Norris on the penultimate lap — comments Red Bull later said were “incorrect” after Antonelli was the subject of online abuse.
While Marko has continued to be a very visible figure within the team in recent years, his influence on the young driver programme was reduced with the appointment of Vettel’s former race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin to the programme in 2022.
