Helmut
Marko

Helmut Marko was born in Graz on 27 April 1943. He went to school with Jochen Rindt and completed a doctorate in law at the University of Graz in 1967. His sports car career began in 1966, when he raced as a privateer in a Triumph Spitfire at Aspern. In 1970 he won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Martini. A year later he won the race outright with Gijs van Lennep in the Martini-Porsche 917K, covering a distance that stood as a record until 2010. That same year he won the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship in a Lola. In 1972 he finished second in the Targa Florio in an Alfa Romeo 33, just 17 seconds behind the winner, setting the fastest laps along the way.

Marko's first Formula One entry came at the 1971 German Grand Prix in Jo Bonnier's privateer McLaren M7C. He set no time in qualifying and did not start. BRM took him on for the rest of the season. At his home race in Austria he finished eleventh in his first start. He made four starts in 1971, stayed with BRM in 1972 and started five more races. His best result was eighth at Monaco in 1972. He scored no points in his nine starts.

At the 1972 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, a stone thrown up by Ronnie Peterson's March struck Marko's visor on the ninth lap. He was seriously injured, and his racing career ended at the age of 29. He had qualified sixth for that race, the highest grid position of his career.

Marko later worked in management. He looked after Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger and founded the RSM Marko team in 1984, which raced in the DTM, Formula Three and Formula 3000. From 1999 it ran as the Red Bull Junior Team, and from 2001 it became Red Bull's European driver development programme under his leadership. From 2005 to 2025 he advised Red Bull Racing, and from 2006 its sister team as well. During that time Red Bull Racing won six constructors' championships between 2010 and 2023. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, both from his programme, became world champions. Marko left his roles at the end of 2025.

Source: Wikipedia, “Helmut Marko”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.