Helmut Marko prepared to ‘step back more’ at Red Bull in F1 future update

Helmut Marko said it would be natural for him to step back from his Red Bull duties in the future after the long-time advisor moved into his 80s.

Marko is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the F1 paddock but plays just as crucial a role now as he has done for the last two decades. With that in mind, Marko said he still feels fit enough to carry on but did suggest he would naturally step back from some of his responsibilities.

Helmut Marko hints at possible Red Bull retirement date

Marko was a key figure in the establishment of the Red Bull Racing team, working together with the company’s co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz to create what is now a title-winning empire.

To this day, he remains a crucial cog in the Red Bull wheel and is known to have a big ally in Max Verstappen. Even at 81 years of age, the Austrian travels to every grand prix and he said he plans to continue until at least 2026.

“I’m not getting any younger,” he told the Inside Line F1 podcast . “My contract goes till 2026 but as long as I am physically and mentally in shape to do my job [I will continue.]

“I enjoy it, but naturally I will step back more and more and hopefully find a good successor.”

One of Marko’s key roles is nurturing young talent and the Austrian has been known to be ruthless when it comes to who is and who is not promoted up the Red Bull ladder. But undoubtedly his most successful youth product is reigning champion Max Verstappen and Marko recalled how he took a risk giving him an F1 seat at such a young age.

“Verstappen was 15 years old when we signed him,” he said. “He was 16 when he had his first outing in Suzuka.

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“Suzuka is one of the most demanding circuits, old style, and we had a lot of criticism, you know, ‘dangerous young guy and blah, blah, blah’ and [now] they changed the rules, unfortunately.

“With Max, I was sitting down for an hour or for nearly two hours, and there was a mature man in a very young body, but his vision of what he wanted and how he wanted to achieve it, that was very clear.

“So for me, it was not a risk to put him in the Formula 1 car. Yes, he had some accidents, but nearly everybody, when he first starts has some accidents.”

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