Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has outlined the strengths and weaknesses of his drivers, including some that have flown the nest.
The motorsport advisor to Red Bull is well known for being utterly ruthless in his dealing with the drivers for both Red Bull Formula 1 teams. While the Red Bull stable within F1 and the junior categories is currently well-populated, many drivers have come and gone through the revolving door of their programme.
However, even those who have impressed Marko have incurred his wrath from time to time, and Marko has revealed the strengths and weaknesses of several high-profile names that have driven a Red Bull machine.
Speaking to Red Bull publication the Red Bulletin ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Marko shed some light on who has impressed him, and why.
Four-time World Champion is the most successful of any driver who has raced for Red Bull, but chose to leave the team at the end of the 2014 season to join Ferrari. Well-known for his intense work ethic, Marko praised that facet of Vettel’s armoury.
“He made ultimate use of all technical possibilities,” Marko explained. “This was also why he ultimately had the upper hand over a talented Mark Webber.”
Vettel chose to leave Red Bull after a year where he was largely shown up by new teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian stepped up from Toro Rosso and enjoyed a strong five-year period with Red Bull – but Marko said his consistency was lacking.
“In his first year at Red Bull, he beat Vettel by three wins to nil,” he said. “Max [Verstappen] coming on the scene was a crunch point in his career.
“Rather than taking up the fight, he wanted to keep his distance. And you know what happened next. That’s too bad. He was always nice to work with. His speed is comparable to that of Max, but he’s just lacking that ultimate consistency.”
Carlos Sainz, who became an F1 race winner for the first time last weekend at Silverstone, didn’t mesh well alongside Verstappen at Toro Rosso.
“It was his bad luck to get Max as a teammate,” Marko said.
“The atmosphere between the two at Toro Rosso was quite toxic. In the setup we had at the time, I couldn’t see a way of keeping him with us and so he moved to Renault, McLaren, and then on to Ferrari.”
Pierre Gasly was brought in as a replacement for Ricciardo after the Australian moved on, but was demoted back to Toro Rosso after just half a season.
Marko said that Gasly failed at Red Bull due to him…
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