BEYOND THE GRID: Helmut Marko on choosing champions at Red Bull – and finding the next Verstappen

Every driver who wants to win with Red Bull needs to impress Helmut Marko.

The veteran Motorsport Advisor oversees the team’s young driver programme and helped launch the careers of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. A former F1 driver himself, he knows what it takes to race under the highest pressure.

Helmut tells Beyond The Grid host Tom Clarkson about his life in racing: childhood adventures in Austria with future World Champion Jochen Rindt, and the serious eye injury which ended his driving career just as he was about to join Ferrari.

He shares the story of how he met Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, and how they started the F1 team which would go on to win races and championships with Vettel and Verstappen.

Plus, Helmut explains how Verstappen and Team Principal Laurent Mekies have changed the team’s approach in 2025, and picks the young driver with potential to be a future champion.

To listen to this week’s episode, simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.

You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated Beyond The Grid library here.