Red Bull chief leaves F1 team in official statement

Helmut Marko will depart Red Bull at the end of this year, a move the Formula 1 team has now made public through an official announcement.

Speculation had begun circulating earlier in the week suggesting that Marko would not remain with the outfit for the upcoming season, and Red Bull has now confirmed those reports.

“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.

Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff added: “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.”

Who is Helmut Marko?

Marko's journey in the sport began more then 50 years ago, making nine F1 race appearances before his career was curtailed at the 1972 French Grand Prix when a rock damaged his visor, leaving him blind in his left eye at the age of just 29.

He went on to manage several Austrian drivers, before linking up with Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz in 1990, who appointed Marko as his advisor.

The pair would go on to found the Red Bull Junior Team, with Marko playing a key role in the development of championship-winning drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen over the years.

Working alongside team principal Christian Horner initially, who was eventually replaced by Laurent Mekies, in an advisory capacity, he had a say on which driver gets behind the wheel, and isn't shy when it comes to sharing his opinions.

His influence in Red Bull's brutal decision to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two races this season, was just the latest in the ever rotating merry-go-round that is the team's second driver lineup.

Marko becomes the latest high-profile figure to leave Red Bull following Horner's exit earlier this year.

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