Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Racing Advisor Dr Helmut Marko is said to have signed a new contract at Red Bull which will see him as an active member of the F1 paddock for at least another three years.
Dr Marko has played a vital role in Red Bull Racing’s success since joining the team to oversee its driver development programme 25 years ago. Stability within Red Bull Racing will certainly do the current F1 Constructors’ Champions no harm as they seek to sweep all of the grid aside them once again.
The 80-year-old is a big figure in the pinnacle of motorsport and has a hand in the career of many drivers of the current F1 grid. His ruthless nature is well known and it seems that for now – at least – he is set to continue in F1 for some time to come.
RacingNews365 in collaboration with Formula.hu, has reported that Dr Helmut Marko has signed a new contract with Red Bull and just last week he told Austrian television outlet OE24: “My future has been clarified in a positive sense” , so the source seems very well founded.
Dr Marko is no stranger to being in the headlines. In September last year, the motorsport consultant issued a formal statement through Servus TV apologising to Mexican driver Sergio Perez for linking his fluctuating form with his ethnicity. Then a month later, Brazilian broadcaster Globo alleged that Dr Marko was clashing with Red Bull Racing’s Team Principal Christian Horner as well as Red Bull’s company CEO Oliver Mintzlaff.
Dr Marko’s remarks around that time went viral when he told media: “I have a contract until the end of next year. When and how I stop, when it’s over for me, I will decide. Not Mr Horner, for example.”
Alongside all of this, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and now 3-time F1 Drivers’ World Champion has described his relationship with Dr Marko as ‘very honest and straightforward’ and is very vocal in the role he has had in his success. So will no doubt be delighted if the recent news is accurate.
Obviously, the F1 off season is when speculation peaks but one cannot imagine Red Bull Racing choosing to let Dr Marko go. They do not need to unsettle their winning formula, one which is seeing them dominant Formula One and they are expected to do so for more years to come.
