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.

Paul Warne praised his players for their result and performance after his MK Dons side recorded an FA Cup win over Oldham at Stadium MK.

Joe Tomlinson, Liam Kelly and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing did the honours for the Dons as they won their FA Cup Second Round tie 3-1, with the result seeing the Dons progress to Round 3 for the first time in 5 seasons.

Speaking after, Warne said his side met the challenge effectively.

He said, “I’m really pleased. We made changes today with the fixtures coming up and we need to keep changing the team as much as we can to keep it fresh and keep competitions for places, which is good. I thought everyone who played today played a really good part, so that’s good, no injuries, plenty of goalmouth action, and obviously in a typical way, we concede a goal late on to add a bit of jeopardy.

“But I thought as hard as Micky’s teams are to play against, our lads were really good today and created enough chances. I don’t think anyone could leave the ground today and think we didn’t deserve to win. I thought we were excellent. There’s some really outstanding performances.”

Warne made 4 changes to the team from the side that had played in their previous league game and the Dons boss said that he was pleased that his rotated squad were able to manage the game.

He said, “I don’t think it weakened it and obviously I made a change at half-time as Jack (Sanders) had had a little injection while Marv (Ekpiteta) had been ill, so it made sense for them to play 45 minutes each, and then I’m bringing on the likes of Nat (Mendez-Laing), Gilbs (Alex Gilbey) and Aaron (Nemane), they’re not bad subs. I feel a little like I was cheating.

“I just thought we had a lot of joy in the first-half playing with two 10s. If you went to the opposite 10, the centre-half wasn’t bouncing out to him so we got through the pitch quite well without having a great deal of cutting edge. Second half, we did have that. Some really good performances. As the game goes on, if you can add legs to your team, you’ve cracked it.”

With the Third Round draw taking place later today, Warne said that while he joked a trip to May’s FA Cup final would probably not take place, he was interested to see who they got and said he would like a team that they didn’t play regularly.

He said, “I joked about this earlier but I don’t think we’re going to Wembley. I don’t want to be the damner of dreams but don’t want to play like the old non-league days on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday in a fixture pile-up.

“It would be nice to have a game that excited people. That could be a Sheffield United at home, a Southampton or Brighton at home, I don’t know, but all I’d like is that if we could have a home fixture against a team from a higher league, that would be exciting and could see how good we think we are and how far we are from going in the direction we want to go. A good home game would be great.”

Conversely, Warne said that he said the thought of a home tie against a team the Dons drew 0-0 with on the opening day wasn’t the most exciting, though he was happier this game was a better spectacle, and that the tie he least wanted was against another side around their level.

He said, “When we got this draw and the first draw, I thought both sets of fans felt it would be a cracker. If they came to see the 0-0 in the first game of the season, I don’t think they’d have been running to see it, though it was a much better game today. Everyone wants to see a game they don’t normally see, that’s the truth, so you want to watch your own players perform against better players and see how good our team is. I look forward to the draw. So when the worst team left gets picked at home, you can all think how I think – ‘Please, no!’ – then you can text me that you voodooed us.”

Milton Keynes City Council are highlighting several services intended to help to keep people safe, independent and at home this winter.

The publication of the initiatives come in the midst of a major wave of flu cases in the UK this winter, with NHS data revealing that 50% more patients are currently in hospital with flu than this time last year.

Milton Keynes City Council have discussed services. This includes their Occupational Therapists, who have helped more than 3,000 residents in the past year, recommending over 600 major home adaptations such as easy-access showers and stairlifts, and providing more than 5,000 pieces of equipment like hoists and grab rails.

Changes such as these are intended to make daily living easier and reduce the risk of falls and injuries that could lead to hospital visits.

The Community Alarm gives round-the-clock reassurance to vulnerable residents. This service provides personal alarms and sensors to more than 3,500 residents, giving peace of mind to them and their families. So far this year, the team has answered more than 120,000 calls and assisted around 1,800 people who had fallen, potentially avoiding hundreds of emergency hospital admissions.

The Milton Keynes Integrated Discharge Hub brings together teams from Milton Keynes University Hospital, Milton Keynes City Council and Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust, combining expertise to ensure patients who are medically fit can leave hospital promptly and safely. The hub coordinates support such as home adaptations, care packages, and community services, helping people return home sooner and reducing unnecessary stays in hospital.

Meanwhile, the city council’s Public Health and Family Centre teams are promoting winter wellness through initiatives that encourage flu and COVID vaccinations for vulnerable residents, healthy living through the local Choose You service, and early intervention to prevent illness such as the ongoing project to provide free oral care products to children – nationally, tooth decay remains the main cause of hospital admission among children aged 5 to 9.

Councillor Donna Fuller, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Communities, said, “NHS England say as many as one in five emergency admissions to hospital may have been avoidable with the right care in place. Our teams are dedicated to giving care and to helping residents remain independent and safe in their own homes. By providing practical support and rapid response services, we’re minimising avoidable hospital admissions and ensuring people get the help they need before problems escalate.”

Joe Harrison, Chief Executive at Milton Keynes University Hospital, added, “Partnership between our trust and Milton Keynes City Council makes a real difference to how the hospital manages through winter pressures and ensures that local people get the care they need in the right setting. What is more, our joint efforts help to ensure that hospital beds are available for those who most need them.”

MK Dons will be hosting Championship side Oxford United in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

After the draw earlier today (08/12) held at Brackley Town’s St James Park stadium, the Dons will be taking on second tier opposition in the next stage of the FA Cup.

The match will take place on the weekend around Saturday January 10th 2026, with a specific kick-off date and time, ticket details and information on any TV coverage to be announced in due course.

Oxford United currently sit 20th in the Championship, with the U’s entering the FA Cup in the Third Round as one of the 44 Premier League and Championship sides to enter the competition at this stage. A noteworthy figure in the U’s team for Dons fans is goalkeeper Jamie Cumming, who previously played for MK Dons in two loan spells in 2022 and 2023 before joining Oxford in 2023.

MK Dons last faced Oxford in an EFL Trophy tie in September 2023, with Oxford’s last visit to Stadium MK coming in a League One match in February 2023, at a time when the Dons were managed by Mark Jackson and Oxford were managed by former Dons boss Karl Robinson.

The Dons’ League Two match away at Gillingham previously scheduled on that Saturday will now be postponed, with a new date for the side’s trip to Kent to be re-arranged to another date in the future.

Paul Warne’s side booked their place in the Third Round with a 3-1 home win over fellow League 2 side Oldham Athletic, having beaten Colchester United in the previous round. The match will be the Dons’ first time in the FA Cup Third Round since the 2020/21 season, while they are aiming to reach the Fourth Round for the first time since the 2017/18 campaign.