Just days after Max Verstappen’s title defeat, which saw him fall short in his bid to secure a fifth consecutive world championship, the Austrian parted ways with the Milton Keynes-based team after twenty years of extraordinary success and a long list of young talents brought through under his watch.

Speaking to GPblog, Marko dismissed any talk of a dismissal, stressing that the decision to leave the team was entirely his own.

Reacting to the news of Marko’s departure in an interview with a betting site, the 1997 world champion admitted it came as a shock, while also pointing out that it was inevitable the old guard would eventually step aside.

Over the space of just a year, three of the key figures left Red Bull who shaped its success over the past two decades — starting with Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin, followed by Christian Horner’s dismissal over the summer and, most recently, Marko’s exit just a few weeks ago.

After Marko's departure, Alistair David Rew was registered with the Companies House as a statutory director alongside team boss Laurent Mekies, a 62-year-old British finance expert and seasoned accountant who has spent much of his career in motorsport and automotive finance.