Helmut Marko spoke about the reasons why he decided to quit Red Bull.
Helmut Marko has been part of Red Bull since its entry into F1. But this week it was confirmed that it was ending…
“We had a difficult season this year,” Marko explained to ORF. “It was like a see-saw, especially in the middle of the year. We were 104 points behind in the Netherlands. Then we started a chase that was definitely unique. But unfortunately it didn’t work out in the last race. We lost the championship by two points.”
“As unique as this return to title contention was, it was still a very bitter disappointment. It hit us particularly hard. Even after the race, I felt something was missing.”
“Then I stayed in Dubai on Monday. That’s when I made up my mind. Even if we had won, it would have been a good reason to leave the job. But now, in retrospect, given that we’ve lost, it’s also a good time.”
According to Helmut Mark, the new rules also played a role. An era has ended and according to Mark, it was the perfect opportunity to leave.
When asked if he had discussed his potential departure with Verstappen, to whom he is very close, Marko elaborated: “I haven’t spoken to anyone about it, but I called Oliver Mintzlaff, the responsible manager of Red Bull, in Dubai and asked if we could have a short meeting. There was a kind of final dinner planned for the championship. And we met before that.”
“I told him what I wanted. We discussed for a while whether a partial solution was still possible. I said if we were going to do it, we had to do it with everything.”
“It happened ad hoc. Another shareholder from a Thai family was also present. But everything was very friendly and went very well.”
“Max was supposed to be there too. But he had some problems with the flight so he wasn’t there.”
“I called him the next day. It wasn’t a normal conversation. There was a certain melancholy in the air. He said he never imagined he would ever achieve this kind of success.”
