Jonathan Wheatley hopes to see Helmut Marko head up the Red Bull driver development programme “for a much, much longer period of time”, amid talks that Sebastian Vettel may return to the team in an advisory capacity.

Christian Horner’s sacking by Red Bull might have come as a shock to some, but cracks continued to show just a few weeks ago, after comments about its 2026 Formula 1 car that “surprised” Helmut Marko.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has pledged not give up on the Formula 1 title fight until it's mathematically impossible for Max Verstappen to win.