Helmut Marko has confirmed reports that Max Verstappen's father is taking on an official Red Bull role. Earlier, we reported that former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, whose teenage son now drives for Red Bull Racing, was considering taking up a role as a sort of young talent scout for the energy drink company.



Marko, who runs Red Bull's driver programme, confirmed: "This is a good cooperation and expansion of the Red Bull junior team." The Austrian said 45-year-old Verstappen, who oversaw his 19-year-old son Max's meteoric rise to F1, will help Red Bull as it looks for the next talents of the future.



"It is a question of time, as there are clashes with junior races so that I cannot see them," said Marko, who attends all the grands prix. "So we asked if he has the time and the inclination to visit certain races for us," he said, revealing that Verstappen's first assignment is the F3 race in Pau this weekend.



But Marko said Jos' scope will go beyond that as well. "Jos was always closely involved in karting," he said. "He can not only coach the drivers with his experience, but also look at the teams. The success in the development phase that he managed with Max is obvious," Marko said. (GMM)