F1 fans all say the same thing after seeing Yuki Tsunoda’s farewell message to Helmut Marko

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Yuki Tsunoda has thanked Helmut Marko after the Austrian’s departure from the Red Bull team was confirmed. Tsunoda has surprisingly outlasted the veteran motorsports advisor.

While he’s lost his race seat for 2026, Tsunoda will continue as a reserve driver. Marko, on the other hand, has effectively been pushed into an early retirement a year before the end of his contract.

Prior to his departure, Marko was influential in determining Red Bull’s 2026 F1 roster. Two of his young talents received promotions, with Isack Hadjar stepping up to the top team and Arvid Lindblad fast-tracked to Racing Bulls.

But even though Marko’s verdict has left his F1 future in doubt, Tsunoda wrote on Instagram: “Thank you, Helmut, for bringing me into the Red Bull family and helping me in my Formula 1 career.”

F1 fans are sceptical about Yuki Tsunoda’s thank you to Helmut Marko

F1 fans were unsure whether Tsunoda was being sincere with his message. One reminded him that Marko had ‘probably ended’ his career.

Another simply wrote ‘I doubt it’, while Tsunoda was also asked if the so-called ‘help is in the same room as us’.

There were also tongue-in-cheek suggestions that this was a mandatory PR move.

Should Yuki Tsunoda really be thanking Helmut Marko?

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“Hmmm how much was paid for Yuki to post this, any guesses?” one comment read, while another user told Tsunoda to ‘blink twice if you were forced to post this’.

“When the team’s treatment [was] so bad you have to thank the one who probably ended your career,” a final fan quipped.

Max Verstappen also paid tribute to Marko after the announcement. Marko won the race to sign the Dutchman when he was just 16, one of the most significant moves in F1 history.

What did Helmut Marko say about Yuki Tsunoda?

Reports suggested that Laurent Mekies was inclined to keep Tsunoda, while Marko had run out of patience. The 82-year-old has been fiercely critical of underperforming drivers in the past, but he was more restrained here.

Marko had no doubt about Tsunoda’s ‘talent’ and speed, and also praised him for becoming less ‘impulsive’ in his radio messages.

Tsunoda was slammed for an ‘incredibly stupid’ incident with Liam Lawson at the Italian GP, but he can’t argue that he didn’t have enough time to save his seat. Red Bull postponed their decision until the penultimate round in Qatar.

Turning to his replacement, Marko has backed Hadjar to win races. Tsunoda didn’t manage to score a podium at Red Bull and hasn’t done so in his 110 F1 starts to date.