Marko not ready to decide own future in F1

Dr Helmut Marko says he will not decide his next move in Formula 1 "until the time comes".

Even despite the outbreak of a leadership power struggle and the Christian Horner scandal, Red Bull appeared to have maintained its position of dominance as the 2024 season began.

However, renowned technical guru Adrian Newey has now scaled back his involvement and will leave the team completely early next year - just as Red Bull is now struggling at certain tracks and often being beaten by Ferrari and McLaren.

When asked about the ongoing internal conflict at the team, consultant Marko told Osterreich newspaper: "Max (Verstappen) has disengaged himself from it and is concentrating on racing.

"He’s doing a very good job of that."

But Marko, 81, admits that the turmoil surrounding team boss Horner remains, with a female staff member now in the midst of an internal appeal process.

"It is something that we have to put aside," the Austrian insists, "especially in a situation where we are so challenged as a team technically.

"We need everyone to pull together."

Marko’s current contract, which is with Red Bull GmbH rather than the Formula 1 team, is not set to expire until 2026. And he’s not ruling out signing a new one with a rival team - with Toto Wolff keen to entice both Marko and his protege Verstappen to Mercedes.

"But at the moment everything is focused on Red Bull and Max Verstappen," Marko insists.

Former Red Bull driver Christijan Albers, who has been critical of Horner amid the 2024 power struggle, says he was confronted by his former team boss at Monaco.

"At the beginning he had the feeling that he could intimidate me," Albers, who is now a broadcaster and pundit, told De Telegraaf. "That didn’t quite work.

"I said to him ’You can’t make your problem my problem’. But I also said the English press takes bits from wherever they can find quotes and blows them up.

"Eventually it was over, I asked him a question on the grid, and it was all fine," the Dutchman added.