Helmut Marko's shock comments over F1 star were last straw for Red Bull

Helmut Marko will leave Red Bull at the end of this year and while both he and the team claim the decision is entirely his own, several sources suggest that there’s more to the story.

Rumors indicate that an incident in Qatar may have been the final straw for the upper management.

Although Marko still has a contract until the end of next year, his future suddenly became uncertain following last weekend’s Abu Dhabi race.

When asked if he would return next season, the 82‑year‑old Austrian hesitated, explaining that he still needed to discuss his future with Red Bull’s CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, who succeeded Dietrich Mateschitz.

On Monday, Red Bull Racing confirmed to GPFans that Marko would indeed be departing, and soon after, Red Bull GmbH—the parent company of the Formula 1 team—issued an official statement.

Incident with Antonelli in Qatar

New factors continue to surface. Reports have claimed that Marko's position reportedly worsened in Singapore when Chalerm Yoovidhya, the head of Red Bull’s Thai shareholders, was allegedly unhappy with certain aspects of his behavior in the paddock.

The final blow reportedly came from Marko’s comments after the Qatar Grand Prix, during which he insinuated on live television that 19‑year‑old Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed title contender Lando Norris to pass in the penultimate lap.

In that lap, Antonelli made a minor mistake that enabled Norris to overtake the Mercedes driver, costing Max Verstappen two crucial points.

Although team engineer Gianpiero Lambiase mentioned over the radio that it seemed Norris had been deliberately allowed through, replays clearly showed that the young Italian had simply made an error. Despite this, Antonelli immediately came under fire on social media and even received death threats from some Verstappen supporters.

Fuel to the fire

Shortly afterward, Marko appeared live on television and further fanned the flames by sharing similar remarks. His comments reportedly sparked severe backlash on social media, prompting team boss Laurent Mekies to personally intervene with an apology statement issued online. Other sources claim that Verstappen himself insisted that Marko issue an apology.

Major impact on Antonelli

The repercussions for Antonelli were significant. He switched his Instagram profile picture to a black image, signalling his distress. In Abu Dhabi, he appeared visibly shaken upon hearing that Verstappen had missed out on the championship by just two points.

Not long after, Antonelli took to social media to apologize to Verstappen, who reassured the young driver that everything was okay and that he shouldn’t worry.

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