Helmut Marko

Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. In endurance racing, Marko won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Template:24hLM with Martini. He founded RSM Marko in 1989, and has been an advisor to Red Bull Racing and its related teams since 2005, winning six World Constructors' Championship titles between Template:F1 and Template:F1.

Born and raised in Austria, Marko progressed to sportscar racing by the late-1960s after completing his doctorate in law at the University of Graz. Finding success in the European Touring Car Championship and becoming a class winner at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans with Martini, Marko progressed to the premier class the following year and won the race in then-record distance alongside Gijs van Lennep. Less than two months later, Marko debuted in Formula One with Bonnier at the Template:F1GP, driving a privateer McLaren M7C. He joined BRM for the remainder of the Template:F1 season, and retained his seat in Template:F1. Marko was seriously injured during the 1972 French Grand Prix, when debris projected by the March of Ronnie Peterson pierced his visor and left him permanently blinded in his left eye, ending his racing career aged 29.

Since retiring from motor racing, Marko has moved into team and driver management, founding RSM Marko in 1989, which became the Red Bull Junior Team in 1999. With Red Bull, Marko has overseen the development of two Formula One World Drivers' Champions—Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen—and has been an advisor to Red Bull Racing since Template:F1, winning six World Constructors' Championships with the team; the graduates of his development programme have won a combined eight World Drivers' Championships and Template:Sum Grands Prix.

Early and personal life

File:Marko, Helmut 1970 (sw).jpg

Marko in 1970

Marko was born in Graz on 27 April 1943, during Nazi-occupation of Austria. He was a school friend of Jochen Rindt, who later won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in Template:F1.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marko graduated from the University of Graz in 1967 with a doctorate in law.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marko owns four hotels in Graz – the Schlossberghotel, Augartenhotel, Lendhotel and Kai 36.

Racing career

Marko competed in several race series, including 10 Formula One Grands Prix in 1971 and 1972, but scored no World Championship points.

Sportscar racing career

File:24 heures du MANS 1971 22 (5001114203).jpg

Marko racing at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans

He had more success in endurance racing, winning the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Martini-Porsche 917K with Gijs van Lennep. During that year, they set a distance record which remained unbeaten until the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans (5,335.313 km, at an average of 222.304 km/h - changes to the track reduced the average speed.)

File:1972-05-21 Targa Florio Collesano Alfa Romeo T33-3 Galli+Marko.jpg

Marko at the 1972 Targa Florio

At the Targa Florio, he drove the fastest laps around the 72 km Sicilian mountain circuit in the 1972 race, catching up over two minutes on the leader within two laps to finish second by a mere 17 seconds. His fastest lap in the Alfa Romeo 33 was 33 min 41 sec, at an average of 128.253 km/h.<ref>56th Targa Florio 1972, formula2.net, as archived at web.archive.org</ref>

Formula One career

Marko debuted in Formula One with Jo Bonnier's Ecurie Bonnier at the Template:F1GP, driving the McLaren M7C. He joined BRM for the remainder of the Template:F1 season, and retained his seat in Template:F1. Marko was seriously injured during the 1972 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, held a few weeks after the Targa Florio, when a sharp volcanic rock kicked up by the March of Ronnie Peterson pierced his visor and left him permanently blinded in his left eye, ending his racing career aged 29.Template:Efn<ref>Template:Cite video</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Charade">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="The Volcanic Rush of Clermont Ferrand">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Retirement from motor racing

Marko was the manager for Austrian racing drivers Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger for several years prior to founding RSM Marko in 1989, a racing team who competed in Formula 3 and Formula 3000; running under the name Red Bull Junior Team from 1999 onwards. Since then, he has administered Red Bull's driver development programme, which has seen several drivers progress to Formula One, including Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz Jr., Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen. Marko's Formula One graduates have a combined eight World Drivers' Championship titles and Template:Sum Grands Prix between them, with Vettel achieving the first in Template:F1. Since 2005, he has been an advisor to all Formula One teams owned by Red Bull, including Red Bull Racing (2005–present) and its sister team, Racing Bulls (2024–present). Racing Bulls previously competed under the names Toro Rosso (2006–2019), AlphaTauri (2020–2023) and RB (2024).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Controversies

2023 Sergio Pérez comments

Marko faced scrutiny in September 2023 for his comments regarding Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez's lack of form throughout the Template:F1 season, following the Template:F1GP. Talking to Red Bull-owned broadcaster ServusTV, he was quoted saying "we know that he 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".<ref name="SP1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SP2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marko's comments were widely perceived as racially charged, with many pointing out that Pérez—a Mexican national—is not South American.<ref name="SP2" /> Marko apologised on 8 September, stating "I was trying to make a point that [Pérez] has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage."<ref name="SP1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Pérez accepted Marko's apology on 14 September and the FIA reprimanded him the following day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Information leaks

In March 2024, Marko faced an internal investigation and possible suspension at Red Bull Racing over leaking insider information regarding team principal Christian Horner's alleged misconduct.<ref name="NYT2024">https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5327048/2024/03/08/helmut-marko-red-bull-f1-suspension-horner-investigation/</ref> Red Bull driver and defending three-time World Drivers' Champion Max Verstappen defended Marko through the investigation, indicating that he would leave if Marko was dropped.<ref name="NYT2024"/>

2025 Isack Hadjar comments

Marko attracted controversy over his comments regarding Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar's debut crash on the formation lap of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.<ref name="AS2025">https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hadjar-on-defusing-markos-embarrassing-storm-hamiltons-compassion/10705059/</ref><ref>https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/44325946/isack-hadjar-agrees-helmut-marko-embarrassing-australian-gp-reaction</ref> He described the incident as "embarrassing", with Hadjar later admitting he was also embarrassed.<ref name="AS2025"/>

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1970	Template:Flagicon Martini International Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Rudi Lins	Porsche 908/2LH	P 3.0	335	3rd	1st
1971	Template:Flagicon Martini International Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	S 5.0	397	1st	1st
1972	Template:Flagicon Autodelta SpA	Template:Flagicon Vic Elford	Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT3	S 3.0	232	DNF	DNF
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Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Pts	Class
1970	BMW-Alpina	BMW 1600	Template:Tooltip	BRH	SNE	THR	SIL	CRY	SIL	SIL 7	CRO	BRH	OUL	BRH	BRH	40th	4	14th
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Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1971	Ecurie Bonnier	Lola T240	Ford	HOC Template:Small	THR	NÜR Template:Small	JAR Template:Small	PAL	ROU						20th	1
	Constructions Mechanique Pygmée	Pygmée MDB16								MAN Template:Small	TUL	ALB	VAL	VAL
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Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Template:Abbr	Pts
1971	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER Template:Small						NC	0
	Yardley-BRM	BRM P153	BRM P142 3.0 V12								AUT Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small
		BRM P160												USA Template:Small
1972	Austria-Marlboro BRM	BRM P153	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ARG Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	ESP										NC	0
		BRM P153B					MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small
		BRM P160B							FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
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See also

• Formula One drivers from Austria

External links

• Profile at grandprix.com