Helmut Marko declared his Red Bull role won't be available for Sebastian Vettel any time soon – but admitted the team has stayed in touch with the retired Formula 1 legend.
Vettel walked away from the sport at the end of last season after a trophy-laden 15 year career. He won the world championship four years in a row with Red Bull before joining Ferrari, where he found success more difficult to come by, before spending his final two years as a racer with Aston Martin.
The German expressed his desire to spend more time with his wife and children, which was his main reason for retirement. The demands of the ever-growing F1 race calendar outweighed his desire to continue racing – though he refused to fully shut the door on a return one day.
As well as being an excellent racer, Vettel was known in his later years for his leadership skills. He looked out for his fellow racers' interests as a director for the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and acted as a mentor for fellow German Mick Schumacher in his first couple of seasons as an F1 driver.
With those qualities in mind, AlphaTauri ace Yuki Tsunoda suggested last month that Vettel might be the perfect person to look after Red Bull's up-and-coming young stars. "That would be really interesting to see how Sebastian would be as a team manager. He can be anything," said the Japanese racer.
"For example, what Helmut Marko is doing now with Red Bull juniors. I think Sebastian would also be very good at taking care of Red Bull juniors because he's one of the most successful drivers in Formula 1.
"I can tell from all the race briefings from last year before qualifying, he always said the points where we have to improve in terms of track, the curb or something like that. He was the first guy to raise his hands so I think Sebastian can be that guy."
Marko is the tough taskmaster who currently oversees the development of Red Bull juniors. He turned 80 last week but has no desire to leave the paddock any time soon. "[Being replaced by Vettel] is not on the agenda," he told Swiss newspaper Blick.
"If, as is the case at the moment, I can be with the best driver in [Max] Verstappen, resigning is not an issue. That's really a bit hasty. My next goal is the third world title with Verstappen. With a different driver pairing, my situation would definitely be different too."
Speaking about Vettel's situation, the Austrian added: "We are still in contact. Seb is currently still in the self-discovery phase but I don't think he wants to travel to every race again and work harder for significantly less money."
