Helmut Marko felt it was the right moment to step away from Red Bull, making the decision immediately after Lando Norris edged Max Verstappen to the 2025 F1 title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull had guided Verstappen to four straight titles before 2025 and he entered the season looking to match Schumacher’s record of five consecutive championships. But Michael Schumacher remains the only driver in history with five consecutive championships.
Norris clinched his first championship by just two points over Verstappen, finishing with 423 points across a grueling 24-race season. Verstappen finished strong, winning from pole in Abu Dhabi and leading all drivers with eight victories on the year, but it still wasn’t enough to secure a fifth straight crown.
Marko’s future was one of the immediate topics of discussion after that race, and Red Bull confirmed on Tuesday that he would be leaving his position after two decades with the team. The role will not be filled going forward.
Marko finds ‘relief’ in leaving Red Bull, saying he no longer has to travel the world
Marko decided it was time to move on from Red Bull after consoling race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the pit wall following Verstappen’s win in Abu Dhabi. Lambiase, clearly emotional after the race, also faces uncertainty about his future.
Lambiase is expected to step back from attending races in 2026 for personal reasons, though he hasn’t ruled out another year alongside Verstappen. For Marko, leaving Red Bull has brought a sense of “relief”, as it means an end to constant global travel.
“That was kind of the point where I said this is the right time to stop,” Marko told sport.de.
The 82-year-old went on: “It’s a total withdrawal. But I might show up at one or two Grand Prix races as a neutral spectator. [It is] a relief that I don’t have to get on some plane again in January.”
Red Bull achievements under Marko
The 2025 winter break will be one of the shortest off-season periods in F1 history, as the 11 teams – with Cadillac joining the field in 2026 – set to regroup in Barcelona for the first pre-season test on January 26-30. F1 will also stage two pre-season tests in Bahrain in February.
For the first time, F1 has decided to run the opening pre-season test behind closed doors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, mainly due to changes brought by the 2026 regulations. These new rules include major changes to engines, aerodynamics, chassis and tyres.
The 2026 season is also expected to match records with a packed schedule of 24 Grands Prix and six Sprint events, stretching from Australia’s opener on March 8 through to Abu Dhabi’s finale on December 6. During his tenure as motorsport adviser, Marko helped Red Bull secure eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles before stepping away.
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