Today the wait was not all for the second Formula 1 round of the season, but also for the meeting that took place in Jeddah between Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of the Red Bull Group, and Helmut Marko, Red Bull's super consultant who during the last hours had ended up in the eye of the storm due to the aftermath of the case involving Christian Horner at the beginning of the year.
Many were expecting the final decision regarding Marko's future in Red Bull, especially in one sense only: the one that would have involved his farewell despite fresh renewal with the Austrian Group. However, these expectations were disappointed.
Marko and Mintzlaff met and the chat led to a confirmation – although not yet definitive – of Marko. The former F1 driver will continue in his role this weekend, then tomorrow Mintlzaff will meet Red Bull's majority shareholder for a final decision.
“It was a very good conversation. Of course, calm must return to the team. This has priority. We agreed on all points. I will continue here. My contract still has three years to run. But calm must return calm down. Tomorrow Mintzlaff will be in Dubai to meet Red Bull's other Thai shareholder.”
“It was what I would describe as a turbulent start to the season. Oliver Mintzlaff arrived today for lunch. We had an excellent conversation. The unanimous opinion is: I'm staying. But we have to bring calm to the team.”
Yesterday Max Verstappen had said very important words for Marko, indicating him as a fundamental element of Red Bull's successes, but also – if not above all – of his stay in Milton Keynes. And with Mercedes' sirens always ready to sound, losing Marko would almost certainly have meant losing the 3-time world champion for Red Bull too.
“Max's words to me were impressive. They are very grateful to him for that. But he is one of the few who has strength of character and demonstrates loyalty.”
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