What’s going on with Marko’s Red Bull future and Lambiase’s tears?

Helmut Marko’s future at the Red Bull F1 team is uncertain amid suggestions he could be set to retire. 

Following Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull advisor Marko hinted that he is not sure if he will be continuing in his role with the team going into 2026.

Asked if his future was in doubt, Marko told reporters in the Yas Marina paddock: “It’s not in doubt, but I will have a discussion and then I see what I do.

“It’s a complex [set] of different things. I have to sleep over it and then will we see.”

Marko’s comments came after Max Verstappen was beaten to the 2025 F1 world championship by McLaren’s Lando Norris at the season finale.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has not ruled out changes within the organisation, though he would not go into specifics.

“Helmut has been incredible in how supportive he has been into helping us turning around things this year,” Mekies said.

“Obviously, him and top management had quite a few difficult decisions to make in the year, and of course, we always know F1 is not a static environment.

"You always adjust your organisations. It applies to technical, it applies to sporting and it's completely normal that we review how we can improve the way we operate all the time.

“I'm not saying that specifically for Helmut, but I'm saying that in general, we are in an environment where we always challenge each other and look for the next steps, no matter how small it is in trying to work together.

“But I can only thank Helmut for the role he has played into making fundamentally better what looked like a difficult situation mid-season.”

Marko was caught up in controversy after he accused Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli of deliberately letting Norris past at the recent Qatar Grand Prix.

Antonelli’s mistake gave Norris an extra two points that would prove to be his winning margin over Verstappen as the curtain fell on the 2025 season.

After the 19-year-old Italian was subjected to vile online abuse, Marko apologised and retracted his previous claim.

What was behind Lambiase’s emotion?

There were emotional scenes on the Red Bull pitwall after the chequered flag, with Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase seen in tears.

‘GP’ was consoled by several Red Bull teammates including Marko.

Lambiase has endured a difficult 2025 season due to private reasons and missed two races in Austria and Belgium. Simon Rennie deputised as Verstappen’s race engineer for those two events.

Speaking about Lambiase’s emotions, Verstappen said: “It’s been an emotional year. Forget about the results this year and I don’t want to go too much into detail, but it’s been tough.

“But I’m very happy to be able to work with someone that passionate. Of course, he is my race engineer, but I see him as my friend. We have lived through so many emotional things together and fantastic achievements.

“I’m sure he was a bit emotional after the flag. So, I’m really looking forward to leaving here and catching up with him because it’s not been easy at times for him.

“I’m just very proud to be able to work with someone that good. A proper example of someone that never gave up this season, even through the difficult times.”