The importance of Marko
At the end of last season, Helmut Marko officially concluded his activities with Red Bull, and more broadly in Formula 1, after a long tenure with the Anglo-Austrian team. He served as a consultant while also creating and managing the historic Red Bull Junior Team, a ‘school’ that nurtured numerous young talents who later earned their place in Formula 1. Among those currently occupying seats at Milton Keynes are four-time World Champion Max Verstappen and rising star Isack Hadjar.
Never gone from the team
Now 82 years old, Marko enjoys a well-earned retirement, but his ties to Red Bull have not disappeared. In fact, the confirmation comes directly from some of the team’s most influential figures, starting with Team Principal Laurent Mekies, who was promoted in 2025 from Racing Bulls after Christian Horner’s departure: “Helmut has remained very open and available with us,” Mekies said in an interview for Beyond the Grid. “I talk to him, the drivers do, and I’m sure that all of us speak with him and receive his advice, even if he’s not visible on track. You can’t just turn the page with Helmut, who built this young driver programme over two decades with incredible success. You don’t turn the page quickly. So right now, we live off his legacy, and as I said, he’s there behind the scenes whenever we need him.”
Contacts remain
Helmut Marko may be absent from the paddock, but he is still present and available. This sentiment was echoed by Max Verstappen, who represented the pinnacle of the Red Bull Junior Team and one of the brightest chapters in the team’s history alongside Sebastian Vettel’s repeated successes: “Maybe there will be a few fewer Austrian jokes from Helmut, but I’m still in contact with him,” Verstappen told the media. “Perhaps not so much about car details, but about life in general. I shared many moments with him, so obviously it’s going to feel a bit different in the garage, but you also have to look forward, right? You have to focus on performance, but at the same time, as I said, we have a great relationship and still keep in touch.”
Gratitude
Hadjar also confirmed his appreciation, always remaining grateful to his mentor despite a heavily criticized start to his F1 career. At the beginning of 2025, Marko openly criticized Hadjar for showing emotion after an error during the reconnaissance lap in Australia: “There are certain things he wants to see, and I can’t speak for others and their experience, but I’ve always had an excellent relationship with him, and he has contributed enormously to my career. The fact that he believed in me when others didn’t, I am very grateful for, because without him this opportunity wouldn’t have come.”