Dr. Helmut Marko is a controversial figure in the Formula One paddock. The 81 yea old Austrian is frank with his opinions regardless of politics, something his position as friend of Red Bull founder Didi Mateschitz guaranteed him until recently.

Following the death of the Energy Empire’s billionaire founder, there have been rumblings in the Red Bull Racing parent company as a power struggle broke out between the Austrian minority shareholders and the Thai co-founder of the organisation.

When asked in China to explain the players involved in the power struggle, Marko declined to get involved stating: “That’s politics that I’m not concerned with at the moment,” he insisted. “It’s all about winning the next world title.”

 

 

 

Marko at risk of Red Bull suspension

Yet Helmut Marko appeared to be implicated in the email leak which included alleged documents relating to the Christian Horner allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”, something the Red Bull team boss was exonerated from following an external independent enquiry had been conducted.

When asked in Jeddah if he was about to be suspended by the Red Bull organisation, Marko cryptically replied to ORF: “I’ll put it this way, it’s difficult to judge, or let’s put it this way, ultimately, I’ll decide for myself what I do. The theoretical possibility always exists.”

When Verstappen was made aware of the rumour he threw his support behind his mentor and friend claiming: “My loyalty to (Marko) is very big. I’ve always expressed this to everyone within the team, everyone high up, that he’s an important part in my decision-making for all the time in the future as well within the team.”

Dr. Marko responded gratefully to Verstappen’s vote of confidence and hidden threat that he could leave Red Bull should the Austrian be dismissed from his post.

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Red Bull losing ground in title race

“That was a really big sign of loyalty,” Marko said. “I absolutely don’t take that for granted, especially in this day and age.”

With just one second place podium from the last three races, Max Verstappen for the first time since 2021 has his hopes of another drivers’ championship put on hold. The gap to Lando Norris in P2 is now 76 points, but without a DNF in Silverstone and team orders in Hungary, the number could’ve been much closer to 60 points.

The real bad news for Red Bull is their lead in the constructors’ race has been cut to just 51 points as Sergio Perez has failed five times in six races to make it into the pole position shootout in qualifying.

The Mexican crashed again in Q1 at the Hungaroring, although his recovery drive on Sunday made some amends as he came through the field to finish P7, just two slots behind his team mate.

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Perez given two races

Since the Emilia Romagna McLaren have clawed back 63 points on the world championship team which if allowed to continue would see them take the lead in the constructors’ title race come the USGP in Austin.

Perez’s future is under review as Marko explained prior to the Hungarian weekend: “All Formula 1 contracts have exit clauses, most of them related to performance or let’s say for the top drivers,” Marko told assembled media in Budapest.

“We will have an evaluation during the summer break and then we will make a decision.”

Heading into the race weekend in Hungary, Perez was reportedly given just two races before the summer break to save his Red Bull seat for the rest of the season. Further, an exit clause from Red Bull Racing’s side of the deal with Checo provides for his replacement should he be more than 100 points adrift of his team mate by the end of the Belgian Grand Prix.

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Comparing driver contributions

The gap after Hungary is now 141 points, so Checo will fall foul of this provision whatever happens in Spa Francorchamps.

The power wow Marko will attend in the UK following this weekends Grand Prix is to discuss the future of the Mexican driver and how Red Bull can shore up their position in the constructors’ title race. They are desperate to add one more to their tally of six as they hunt down Mercedes current eight team championships, though at present it looks as though McLaren are hot favourites unless something changes.

Perez has delivered just 124 points out of the team’s current 389 which is just 47% of Verstappen’s points haul and is costing the team big time.

When examining the contribution from the McLaren pair, the gulf of difference is immediately obvious. Lando Norris has 189 points and Oscar Piastri 149 which is clearly a much greater contribution from the number two driver in the team. 

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Marko confirms Perez review

Piastri has scored 79% of the points delivered by Norris and the drivers are much closer in qualifying and race finishing positions than the Red Bull pair.

Verstappen’s average grid slot is 1.89 over 13 races this year, while Perez languishes way down the order with an average start position of 8.33. In terms of finishing positions Max averages 2.25 while Checo is down at 5.91.

While Norris average starting position is lower than Max at 3.38 with Oscar close behind on 5.31 they are better positioned as a duo to score more points than Red Bull. This is also borne out by the close measure of Lando and Oscar’s finishing positions which are on average 4.62 and 5.38 respectively.

Speaking after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Dr. Helmut Marko congratulated Checo’s race performance telling ORF: “Perez drove a very good race, and the strategy worked well. We are sticking to our approach. On the Monday after Spa I will fly to England and discuss the procedure with Horner.”

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Horner praises Checo’s race effort

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also praised his number two driver claiming to Sky F1: “That was probably Checo’s strongest race since China, I would say. So, he should take some confidence out of the race. If he had qualified more in position, you could see he would have been in a much more competitive position.”

At the summer break in 2023, Sergio Perez was 125 points behind Verstappen and in a similar contractual position, yet the team were 256 points ahead of their nearest rivals, not the current 51 tally which is a headache for all concerned at the Milton Keynes team.

Horner favours retaining Perez but Marko has been piling on the pressure over the past week, talking up his junior drivers in Liam Lawson, Issac Hadjar and Arvin Lindblad, so the showdown may become spicy.

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Junior drivers the future for Red Bull

Lawson has all but been promised a drive for the Racing Bulls and his contract with the Red Bull organisation expires during August this season.

Marko even suggested the recent change of rules allowing under 18 years of age drivers to be considered for an F1 drive, could benefit Linblad who the Austrian explains: “He is only 16 years old and we are delighted that he can now drive in Formula 1 at 17.

Short term should Red Bull say farewell to Checo in time for Zandvoort, its likely Daniel Ricciardo could be given the opportunity to race alongside Verstappen in the Red Bull car. That said the Australian’s results compared to his team mate are patchy and even this arrangement may only be temporary and in force to just the end of the season.

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Ferrari boss drops mischievous hint about Newe

While the clamour over the future of Adrian Newey has somewhat died down in recent weeks, it appears the battle to secure the signature of the F1 car designer guru is now down to just two teams.

The romantic notion of Newey returning to where it all began for him in F1 at Williams appears to be receding, despite the team investing “hundreds of millions” in infrastructure according to team boss James Vowles.

Today the news broke that Aston Martin have offered Newey $100m across four seasons to join the Silverstone based outfit. The report came from F1-insider which is known to be particularly close to Dr. Helmut Marko… READ MORE