Marko's decision to leave the team was received as a blow by Managing Director Oliver Mintzlaff, who described it as one he "deeply regrets." Only natural, since the 82-year-old Austrian's role in the team was arguably the most relevant, since it was he who brought the pieces together that forged the young F1 outfit's two era's of success.

Verstappen now stands as one of the few main remnants of the generation that brought the team's second championship-winning streak, after the departures of key figures like Jonathan Wheatley, Adrian Newey, Christian Horner and now Marko.

After Wheatley and Newey's exit from the team in 2024, they faced issues in the areas both of them oversaw. Red Bull suffered with the pit stop sequences for a time, a crucial aspect in modern-day F1 racing, following the former's departure to Sauber, soon to be transformed into Audi F1.

In the wake of Newey's exit the Austrian fold lost their technical direction and struggled with the RB20's complicated nature, that brought Lando Norris close enough to spark - tenuous - title-battle talks following McLaren's steady performance rise which became consolidated at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix.

Although Technical Director Pierre Waché, Head of Racing Gianpiero Lambiase and Principal Strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz, still continue in the team, there's no arguing that the Red Bull's top brass has faced drastic changes, with each having a significant impact on the way the team carries out its F1 operations.

One needs only to look at the hand new team principal Laurent Mekies has had. After he took over from Horner the Milton Keynes-based fold experienced a violent surge that saw Verstappen come within two points of snatching the Drivers' title from Norris.

And so with one farewell, it's logical to ponder on the upcoming departures, however near or far into the future they may be. And Verstappen's, who time and time again has rejected the idea of continuing to drive in F1 in his 40's, is something the team must start bringing into its calculations to prepare for a future without the Dutchman in its ranks.

This is easier said than done, though. It is thanks to Verstappen's talent and relentless work ethic that the team can afford to develop peaky, temperamental and, more importantly, title-winning capable cars. If the potential to win races and championships is available, Verstappen will extract it.

To split the development focus between two drivers can make a car more stable, well-rounded and predictable, but it comes at the cost of cornering speed, a trait Verstappen relentlessly pushes the team to provide him with in order to maximise lap time.  

However, to maintain the current development focus solely on the Dutch driver's input doesn't seem like the way to go either, if a young talent like Isack Hadjar's survival is an untennable target to achieve under the current technical status quo.

Thus Red Bull nears a vital cross-roads. Though Max Verstappen remains in the Red Bull fold, and he may continue in the team for a long time yet, Marko's departure serves as a reminder that nothing lasts forever.

The Dutch driver thanked the Austrian for believing in him and for all they achieved together in their spell in F1. Read his full comments here.

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