Helmut Marko

Helmut Marko (27 April 1943 - Present): Austrian racing driver from Graz who competed in 10 Formula 1 Grands Prix in 1971-1972, scoring no World Championship points while driving for Bonnier's privateer McLaren. A school friend of Jochen Rindt and doctorate in law graduate from the University of Graz, Marko's greatest racing success came at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won with Gijs van Lennep in a Porsche 917K, setting a distance record that stood until 2010. His racing career ended abruptly at the 1972 French Grand Prix when a stone struck his helmet, permanently blinding his left eye. Post-racing, Marko became manager for Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger before founding RSM Marko in 1989, a racing team competing in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 that became the Red Bull Junior Team in 1999.

Since 2005, he has served as motorsport advisor to Red Bull Racing and its sister teams, administering Red Bull's driver development program that has produced Formula 1 World Champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, and helped Red Bull win six World Constructors' Championships.