Who is Helmut Marko? The controversial Red Bull chief and Max Verstappen ally

Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull’s driver development, has played a vital role in the success of the six-time Formula 1 constructors’ champions.

Marko has been a long-term adviser to Red Bull’s family of teams, both Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB (VCARB, formerly AlphaTauri). The 80-year-old was a racer himself before an eye injury forced him into an early retirement as he focused his efforts on shaping the next generation of F1 stars.

Here is all you need to know about Red Bull guru, Helmut Marko.

Who is Helmut Marko?

Helmut Marko, born in Graz, Austria on April 27, 1943 is a long-time Red Bull advisor and oversees the team’s driver development.

Marko raced in 10 F1 grands prix during the 1970s, failing to score a point, but had more success in endurance racing as he claimed victory in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans.

An eye injury suffered during the 1972 French Grand Prix where a stone flew up and struck his helmet visor would force the Austrian into an early retirement.

He would go on to start his own F3 team before turning his attention to producing the next crop of future world champions as part of the Red Bull Junior Team in 1999.

What is Helmut Marko’s role at Red Bull?

Helmut Marko oversees driver development for Red Bull and VCARB and is a special adviser to the team.

The precise details of Marko’s role at the F1 giants is somewhat murky, but he has had a huge role in shaping the team’s junior program.

Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, with seven world championships between them, both came through the ranks under Marko alongside the likes of Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

What is Helmut Marko’s relationship with Max Verstappen?

Max Verstappen has a very close bond with Helmut Marko, with the Dutchman hailing the Red Bull chief as a father figure.

“Helmut is like a father to me, yes,” Verstappen said in 2021. “I have a very good relationship with both of them [Marko and team principal Christian Horner] and with Helmut, he says what he thinks and is always straightforward and I like that.”

Verstappen has strongly suggested that his future at Red Bull is tied to Marko. “It is important he [Marko] stays at the team,” Verstappen told Sky Sports at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“I always said, and everyone at Red Bull knows, that for me personally, Helmut Marko must always be there.”

Marko’s Sergio Perez controversy

Marko was forced to apologize after he suggested that Sergio Perez’s ethnicity was to blame for his fluctuation in form.

After the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, Marko said: “We know that he [Perez] has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel].”

Perez comes from Mexico, Guadalajara – geographically located in North America, not South America. Even so, the continent has produced some of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen, such as Ayrton Senna (Brazil) and Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentina).

Marko later apologised for his comments, saying: “I would like to apologize for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalize about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity.

“I was trying to make a point that Checo [Perez] has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage.”