Sebastian Vettel confessed his surprise when confronted with Helmut Marko’s exit from Red Bull. The long-serving advisor announced his retirement from the sport last week after watching Max Verstappen miss out on a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Marko’s retirement has been a topic of debate for some time now, but few in the paddock expected the 82-year-old to walk away from the sport so suddenly at the end of the 2025 campaign.
The decision to leave was Marko’s own, as confirmed by the Austrian in an explosive interview with De Telegraaf. Considering the recent departures of Adrian Newey and Christian Horner and the uncertainty surrounding Gianpiero Lambiase’s involvement next year, Red Bull will have an unfamiliar new look at the start of the latest technical regulations.
When asked about Marko’s retirement in an interview with F1-Insider, Vettel replied: “I was just as surprised as everyone else. I wish Helmut all the best for the future and a well-deserved retirement.”
Vettel went on to add: “He is the architect of the success of Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso. Not only when it came to choosing drivers – key decisions on team constellation, personnel and strategy were also down to him.”
Many, Marko included, have speculated that Vettel would be the ideal successor to the Graz native as the leading figure in Red Bull’s young driver programme. However, according to a report from German newspaper BILD, the four-time world champion will not be returning to the Milton Keynes squad in the immediate future.
The 38-year-old would be open to a return to the F1 paddock, provided the right conditions are in place. “Well, I probably would say I’m not the typical desk guy,” he told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast. “Not yet! I would say it very much depends on the role. Now, this is the sport that I know.
“This is the business that I know, and I think I’m really fascinated, and have always been – and got more fascinated towards the end – of the human element, the psychology behind how a team works, what you need to succeed, how to look after each other.
“Now, I know that obviously inside out from a driver’s point of view, but I think very much, you can transfer to teams in general, and then also to life. And I find that just very interesting and fascinating. So it depends, really, on the challenge that might arise, or the opportunity.
“I’m not going from team to team, or actually doing anything to say, ‘Look, do you have something for me? And this is what I could imagine.’ I think time will tell if the right thing sort of happens to come up. I’m not ruling it out at all. It could be very interesting. But in that regard, I’m not in a rush.”
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