Red Bull Racing have confirmed the departure of the team’s motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko.

The 82-year-old Austrian will leave his contract one year early in a move that ends involvement with Red Bull’s F1 operations since the team first entered F1 in 2005, with Red Bull confirming that Marko will depart at the end of 2025.

The move brings to an end an association that has seen Marko involved every step of the way for Red Bull’s time in F1, in a time that has seen the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing team win 6 Constructor’s Championships and 8 Driver’s Championship titles, with the two Red Bull-owned teams combined achieving 132 wins.

Marko had previously been a close confidant of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, with his work seeing him have control over direction of the two Red Bull teams and manage Red Bull’s junior driver programme. The Red Bull academy scheme has seen 20 drivers reach F1, including Red Bull’s 4-time world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, as well as current F1 stars like Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.

The move continues a recent exodus of several high-ranking members of Red Bull’s team since the start of 2024. Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner left in July, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley left to join Sauber as Team Principal, Chief Technical Officer and celebrated car designer Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin in 2024, and Chief Engineering Officer Rob Marshall has joined McLaren, while Head of Strategy Will Courtenay is set to join McLaren in 2026 after agreeing a move to leave Red Bull.

In a statement, Dr Marko thanked Red Bull for enabling him to work with the team in their time together.

He said, “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. 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. I wish the entire team continued success and am convinced that they will be fighting for both world championship titles again next year.“

Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of Corporate Projects and Investments at Red Bull GMBH 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.

“Over more than 20 years, Helmut has earned incomparable merits for our team and the entire Red Bull motorsport family. He played a decisive role in all key strategic decisions that made Red Bull Racing what it is today: a multiple world champion, an engine of innovation, and a cornerstone of international motorsport.

“After a long and intensive conversation, I knew I had to respect his wishes, as I gained the impression that the timing felt right for him to take this step. Even though his departure will leave a significant gap, our respect for his decision and our gratitude for everything he has done for Red Bull Racing outweigh it.

“Helmut Marko will be deeply missed, both personally and professionally. We wish him all the very best for the future and hope that he will remain closely and warmly connected to the team.”

Reports by sources including the BBC and The Race have claimed Marko has chosen to leave Red Bull due to a lack of control in the team’s new structure after both the death of Mateschitz in 2022 and the exit of Horner after his dismissal earlier in 2025, although no comment about these suggestions has been made publicly.