Marco denied rumors about Red Bull's interest in Palou.

      Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has denied rumours that the team is considering inviting Alex Palou. According to the Austrian specialist, it has not yet been decided who will be Max Verstappen's teammate in 2026, but they plan to make that decision by the end of October.

      Helmut Marko: "At the moment we are pleasantly surprised by Isack Hadjar. Arvid Lindblad is also doing well in Formula 2 and everything is going according to plan. He is fully involved in the process and will do a few more events with us this year.

      Alex Palou? The rumours are not true. It's simply not true."

      Commenting on the work of Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner as head of Red Bull Racing, Marko spoke very highly of the Italian specialist's work: "Laurent continues to get involved in matters, studying the team's structure and personnel.

      In the medium term we are aiming for a decentralized structure – each division should have its own head who will report to Laurent. For example, Rob Gray heads the RB17 project, and Ben Hodgkinson leads the engine department. They have been given a bit more responsibility for their areas.

      This allows Mekies to pay more attention to the racing team. Thanks to that we are already seeing progress, because he is simply an excellent engineer.

      Right now we want to finish the season as high up as possible. But it's hard to say whether more wins are possible."

      Commenting on Cadillac's decision to sign Valtteri Bottas and former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, Marko said: "They chose a conservative route and know what to expect from these two.

      I spoke with Sergio on the phone, and he is very motivated. If he is motivated and the car is in good shape, he will definitely return to his former level."