Helmut Marko will step down from his role as Red Bull’s motorsport adviser at the end of 2025, bringing an influential 20 year tenure to a close, the team confirmed on Tuesday. The 82 year old has been central to Red Bull’s rise since their entry into Formula 1 in 2005, helping deliver six constructors’ titles and eight drivers’ championships while shaping the careers of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
A statement from Red Bull said Marko had “decided to step down at the end of 2025”. The Austrian, a former Formula 1 driver and Le Mans winner, reflected on a career that has spanned six decades. “The past 20 plus years at Red Bull have been an extraordinary and extremely successful journey,” he said. “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.”
Marko was long regarded as the closest adviser to the late Red Bull co owner Dietrich Mateschitz and was instrumental in strategic decisions across the organisation’s motorsport projects. He oversaw the development of around 20 drivers, including Vettel and Verstappen, the latter maintaining a close personal bond with him. Verstappen has spoken with Marko about the decision, and while emotional, insiders say he accepts it is the right time for his long time ally to move on.
Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive officer of corporate projects and investments, said Marko’s departure followed “a long and intense conversation”. He added: “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.” Mintzlaff praised Marko’s “instinct for exceptional talent” and noted that his impact “left a lasting imprint on Formula 1 as a whole”.
Marko’s exit comes during a period of shifting power dynamics at Red Bull. Early in 2024, Verstappen played a key role in helping him retain his position during a power struggle involving former team principal Christian Horner. However, sources close to the team say Marko increasingly felt he no longer held the level of control he once enjoyed, particularly after structural changes that followed Horner’s dismissal in July.
A late season flashpoint, according to those familiar with the situation, was Marko’s decision to sign Irish driver Alex Dunne to the Red Bull junior programme against the wishes of Mintzlaff and current team principal Laurent Mekies. Dunne has since been released and is seeking a new route into Formula 1 after previously ending his ties with McLaren.
Marko’s time at Red Bull has also been punctuated by controversy. In 2023 he apologised after attributing Sergio Perez’s inconsistent form to his ethnicity, a remark that drew widespread criticism.
His departure will close a defining chapter in Red Bull’s history and marks a significant change in the leadership landscape of one of Formula 1’s dominant modern teams.
