Dec.11 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko insists his departure from Red Bull was voluntary, rejecting reports he was pushed out after 20 years with the company.
Speaking to RTL, the 82-year-old said: “No, I was by no means pressured to leave.” He explained that the Abu Dhabi finale was the moment he decided to step away: “That was the point where I said to myself, this is the right time to stop.”
Marko said he met Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in Dubai on Monday.
“I expressed my wish. After some discussion, he accepted it. He tried to persuade me, but saw that I was consistent,” he noted.
Marko confirmed he will withdraw completely from day-to-day work but may attend “one or two” races as a “neutral spectator”.
To ORF, Marko added: “I didn’t discuss this with anyone. I told Mintzlaff my wish before the dinner. A partial solution had been discussed, but I said ‘If we’re going to do it, we’re going all the way’.”
He said Red Bull majority owner Chalerm Yoovidhya was brought into the talks and described the outcome as “amicable.”
Marko informed Max Verstappen the following morning. “There was a certain amount of melancholy. It was the closest relationship I’ve ever had with a driver. We hardly ever disagreed.”
Speaking to Krone, Marko said either title outcome would have marked a suitable end. “If we had won the title, it would have been a good time to retire. The fact that it didn’t work out was just as good an argument for me.”
On newly crowned champion Lando Norris, Marko concluded: “He didn’t make any mistakes, he had a second half of the season as good as ours. There’s nothing to criticise.”
Bild reports that Red Bull will pay Marko his full 2026 salary – around EUR 10 million – as a severance settlement.
Bild columnist Michel Milewski warned the loss of high-profile figures such as Marko and Christian Horner risks a “character vacuum” in Formula 1, noting only Toto Wolff remains as a major personality on the pitwall amid a new sea of engineer-bosses.
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