The winds of change have swept away another pillar of Red Bull's foundation and a central piece in their operations that saw them go from the midfield to the very top of F1, as GPblog was able to report already on Monday, that a conversation regarding the 82-year-old Austrian's future had been held on that same day in Abu Dhabi, and that the outcome pointed to the departure of the team's chief advisor.

Marko was responsible for bringing some of the sport's best drivers to the series, boasting names such as Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly to the F1 grid, along with Verstappen, who now stands as a four-time world champion since joining F1 in 2015.

Marko also played a crucial role in getting Verstappen to F1, but also into the Red Bull seat from Toro Rosso. He was an instrumental part in managing the Dutchman and crucially stood in the Verstappen camp when the team was split following the internal investigation into form team boss Christian Horner. Marko spearheaded Red Bull's push to make supporting Verstappen a priority, often to the detriment of his teammate.

The former Red Bull chief advisor is also responsible for bringing Isack Hadjar to F1, who after a stellar rookie season that saw him score his first podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, which not even Verstappen managed in his first year in F1 - he's been promoted to Red Bull Racing to partner the four-time world champion in 2026.

With Marko in the team as part of his role developing talent and overseeing the junior programme, rookies faced tremendous pressure to deliver, which mounted on top of the stress of already racing for a top F1 team.

But with the 82-year-old Austrian's departure, and with Red Bull GmbH becoming more involved in the day-to-day operations of the F1 team, a desire to see both Red Bull drivers performing may naturaly surface, could there now be a shift in the team that would see them adopt an approach similar to McLaren that does not favour a particular driver. In that there is no no.1 or no.2 driver?

One of the questions Red Bull could - and should - be asking themselves is: What good is young driver's program to promote talent to F1 if none of them can survive - under the current conditions - next to a driver like Verstappen?

Hadjar's first season at Red Bull now doesn't look like the mammoth challenge it once did, although Verstappen certainly won't make it easy for his new teammate either.

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