Helmut Marko has allegedly already been informed he will not be part of the Red Bull F1 operation in 2026.<\/p>\n
The 82-year-old Austrian is understood to have been informed his time working with Red Bull has come to an end, despite having one year left to see out on his current contract.<\/p>\n
Helmut Marko \u2018has been told\u2019 Red Bull tenure has ended<\/p>\n
Amidst rumours that Marko and Red Bull<\/a> are set to split before the F1 2026 season, well-placed sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com that the Austrian has already been informed of his removal before even having the chance to leave the United Arab Emirates after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.<\/p>\n As well as being a director of the Red Bull Racing team, Marko has one year left on his deal with Red Bull GmbH, but is believed to have been informed that his services are no longer required, effective immediately.<\/p>\n He has been the last remaining piece of the former long-standing power structure at Red Bull Racing, with the Austrian serving as the \u2018man on the ground\u2019 for the company\u2019s late founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, when Red Bull first entered Formula 1 in 2005.<\/p>\n Marko, together with former team boss Christian Horner, formed a formidable partnership, with the team becoming one of the most competitive of the past two decades as the Milton Keynes-based squad emerged first as championship contenders in 2009 and, shortly after, multiple title winners.<\/p>\n But, in the wake of Mateschitz\u2019s death in 2022 and the transfer of shares to his son Mark, who appointed Oliver Mintzlaff to the role of CEO as one of a three-man board at Red Bull, a power struggle began to emerge within the F1 team under Horner\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n This eventually ended in the bombshell axing of Horner from his roles as team boss and CEO of Red Bull Racing, as well as being removed as a director of the various companies under Red Bull\u2019s F1 umbrella. He was succeeded in all of these roles by Laurent Mekies, with Mintzlaff turning to the French engineer after Mekies held down the team boss role at Racing Bulls from the start of 2024.<\/p>\n With Marko having seemingly come through the transitional period unscathed, it appears that tensions between the Austrian and the new power structure of Mintzlaff and Mekies have escalated through various incidents.<\/p>\n As a representative of Red Bull GmbH and not Red Bull Racing, Marko has become infamous for speaking to the media as he pleases, often without any oversight from the team, and his revealing of more sensitive information on a regular basis is believed to have been a growing strike against him.<\/p>\n This was behaviour largely tolerated while working with Horner, who was willing to give Marko greater freedom in this regard.<\/p>\n F1 2025: The season\u2019s winners and losers<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0The results of the F1 2025 championship <\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0The updated Drivers\u2019 and Constructors\u2019 Championship standings<\/a><\/p>\n