Helmut Marko has announced he is stepping down from his role as Red Bull’s motorsport adviser effective immediately, as the Formula 1 season came to an end last weekend, bringing to a close a two-decade tenure that helped shape the modern team — and played a pivotal role in the career of New Zealand’s Liam Lawson.
Dr Helmut Marko celebrating Max Verstappen’s race win in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit last weekend. Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
To many Kiwi fans, Marko’s name is not just tied to Red Bull’s world champions, but to a phone call made in the summer of 2019 that quietly altered the pathway of one of New Zealand’s brightest young drivers.
In January of that year, just a day after Lawson produced a standout move at Highlands Motorsport Park to take the lead in his debut Toyota Racing Series race, Marko rang to offer him a place in the Red Bull Junior Programme. On February 12, Lawson’s 17th birthday, he chose Red Bull from a number of junior offers and signed a multi-year agreement.
Looking back on that moment, Lawson has spoken openly about how close he was to having no clear future in racing at the time.
Speaking on Red Bull’s Talking Bull podcast, he revealed how surprised he was to attract Marko’s attention in the first place.
“As a kid, being into Formula 1, I would watch the series every single year. I dreamed of driving in it, and to me it was like the Formula 1 of racing at the time.”
He explained that Red Bull’s initial interest centred on another driver.
“There was a Red Bull driver racing in it at the time, Lucas Auer, he was my team mate, so I guess Helmut was watching because of Lucas racing.”
Peter Bayer, CEO of Racing Bulls, Dr Helmut Marko and Liam Lawson. Image: Peter Fox/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
“And yeah, I got the call-up after that first weekend in New Zealand. I found out one or two days after the weekend.”
“I was sitting in a café, I remember exactly where I was sitting. And I remember I couldn’t walk… I was pretty emotional, but I remember I was like, ‘dude, I’m going to go for a walk’, and I couldn’t really walk properly, it was super weird!”
More than the shock, it was the timing that mattered most.
“Long story short, being from New Zealand, trying to compete overseas, it’s really, really hard… I did that first season in Europe, and I had a good season, but I didn’t have any call-ups from any teams.
“Now I just did this championship in New Zealand over the off-season, with no plan of what I was doing in 2019, and I got basically picked up at the perfect time, and it saved my career.
“Without it, I had four weeks left of that championship, and then I had no plan after that.”
That opportunity became the foundation for Lawson’s rise through F3 and F2, where he finished third in the 2022 championship, followed by Super Formula, his role as Red Bull’s F1 reserve, and ultimately a full-time Formula 1 seat with Racing Bulls.
Marko’s influence stretched far beyond one driver. Since joining Red Bull when it entered Formula 1 in 2005, he has become one of the most powerful figures within the organisation, overseeing the junior programme and helping guide driver choices for both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, now Racing Bulls.
Under his watch, Red Bull won six constructors’ titles and eight drivers’ championships. He also oversaw the development of 20 drivers who reached Formula 1, including Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
Sebastian Vettel celebrates with Dr Helmut Marko in the pitlane after winning the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in 2009. Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool /
Red Bull confirmed that the 82-year-old will depart at the end of 2025, describing the move as his own decision.
“I have been involved in motorsport for six decades now, and the past 20-plus years at Red Bull have been an extraordinary and extremely successful journey,” Marko said.
“It has been a wonderful time that I have been able to help shape and share with so many talented people. 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.”
Behind the official statements, the final phase of his time at Red Bull has been more complex. Following the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, the team’s internal balance of power shifted, and Marko’s influence began to narrow.
The departure of Christian Horner earlier this season further changed the landscape, and sources close to the team suggest Marko no longer holds the level of control he once did, particularly around driver decisions.
Ex-Team Principal Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko celebrate in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2023. Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull executive Oliver Mintzlaff described the decision as difficult to accept.
“Helmut approached me with the wish to end his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the year. 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.
“Over more than 20 years, Helmut has earned incomparable merits for our team and the entire Red Bull motorsport family… His instinct for exceptional talent not only shaped our junior programme but also left a lasting impact on Formula 1 as a whole.”
Team principal Laurent Mekies also paid tribute.
“It is very sad news that Helmut is leaving us. He has been such an integral part of our team and of Red Bull’s entire motor racing programme for more than two decades.
“This is therefore the end of a remarkably successful chapter. His departure will leave a void, and we will truly miss him.”
There is now uncertainty around how Marko’s departure will affect Max Verstappen, who has long described him as a key ally inside the team. Verstappen once called him one of the “pillars” of Red Bull and previously hinted he would reconsider his own future if Marko was pushed out.
For New Zealand motorsport fans, though, the most enduring image may not be championships or internal politics, but a young driver sitting in a café, barely able to stand after a life-changing phone call from Austria.
Marko’s career will always be debated for its controversies as much as its success, but in New Zealand, his legacy will always include the moment he gave Liam Lawson the chance that made a Formula 1 career possible.
Header Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
