The furore over the sacking of Formula One driver Liam Lawson from the Red Bull team is making all the pre-Japanese Grand Prix headlines. He has been replaced by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda who was overlooked in December when the Red Bull decision was made to terminate the contract of Sergio Perez.
Yet there’s another developing story behind the scenes which appears to suggest, the “mistake” to which Dr. Helmut Marko now refers, was in fact his and it appears Red Bull have handed the 82 year old Austrian enough rope with which to hang himself.
At the beginning of last year, Red Bull were the centre of another alleged scandal, with team boss Christian Horner accused of “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female employee within the team. He was cleared both following the investigation and the subsequent appeal, although the relationships within the senior figures within world champion F1 team were clearly strained.
Marko almost ousted from Red Bull
Marko apparently faced suspension following round two in Jeddah, as he was suspected of leaking confidential information from the investigation to over 150 senior paddock figures. When asked by Austrian broadcaster ORF whether he would be absent come th next weekend in Australia, the Austrian said: “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.”
The potential of a Marko exit from the Red Bull camp dragged Max Verstappen into the row, given his close relationship with the Red Bull advisor. “It is important he stays at the team,” Verstappen told reporters on the Friday evening in Saudi Arabia, adding Marko is an “important pillar” to his decision-making process about his future.
In a bizarre revision of history, Max credited Helmut Marko with having “built this team together with Dietrich from day one.” Going on to suggest his own future with Red Bull depended on them retaining his Austrian mentor.
In response to Max’s veiled threat to quit the team and break his contract which runs to 2028, Christian Horner responded stating: “You can’t force somebody to be somewhere just because of a piece of paper. If somebody didn’t want to be at this team, then you know, we’re not going to force somebody against their will to be here.
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“That applies whether it’s a machine operator or a designer or somebody in one of the support functions, that runs through the business,” said the Red Bull boss, clearly taking head on the threat from his star driver.
As the race weekends came and went, the troubles at Red Bull faded, with Marko and Horner apparently having returned to the same page. Now with a scapegoat to find for the ludicrous saga over Liam Lawson, it seems the good doctor is finally being hung out to dry.
The Red Bull motor racing organisation hold a unique position in Formula One and that is they own two teams and employ four full time drivers. Marko believes it has been his job to find the next world champion amongst the junior formula ranks as he did with Vettel and then Max Verstappen.
Yet over the past decade, the Red Bull junior programme has failed to deliver a driver capable of matching Verstappen at the front of the grid. In fact since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo in 2018, Verstappen has been practically unbeatable by the four team mates he has been given.
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Verstappen beaten 12 times in quali since 2018
Since the Aussie left at the end of 2018, Max has been beaten in qualifying on just twelve occasions across 130 Grand Prix weekends by team mates Gasly, Albon, Perez and now Lawson. The role of number two to Max at Red Bull is considered a poison chalice by many F1 observers.
Further, Marko’s inability to find internal candidates to challenge for world championships has led many to believe the Red Bull junior driver programme is a spent force. The problem is in how Marko sees his role. Instead of finding drivers who can excel in the sister team, his search for the next world beater is driving him to desperation.
It was Marko who recruited Mercedes Formula E world champion, Nyck de Vries, whom he later admitted Horner did not want and the Red Bull boss was eventually proven right. Now it appears Lawson was Marko’s next roll of the dice to find the right team mate for Verstappen, given the number of media interviews he has given this week when compared to a simple statement from Horner.
Yet the goal of the Red Bull junior driver programme could be fulfilled completely even were it to just find competent drivers who do well in the sister team alone. Red Bull Racing need the best drivers on offer, rather than to be some proving ground for Marko’s relentless search for the next global superstar.
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Horner prefers an experienced driver
Before Perez was sacked, Christian Horner had talks with Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colpinto although it has been reported by Ralf Schumacher that Dr. Marko out his foot down. “Yes, and then there was Dr. Marko, who at that point said: ‘One second. we’ll take our juniors’ and I don’t see a junior next to Max Verstappen at the moment,” reported Sky Germany this week.
Much has been made of the failure of the Red Bull young driver programme and with Mercedes debuting their next hopeful world beater in a front running car, questions are being asked over the future of the Marko led programme.
Red Bull should take a leaf from Ferrari and McLaren’s playbook and just recruit the strongest driver to partner Max regardless of where he comes from. Having given Kimi Antonelli 10,00km of testing before his debut this year in Australia, their method of preparing a young driver for a top team is proving a success beyond Toto Wolff’s wildest dreams.
Such has the young Italian impressed across his first two F1 weekends, that Toto Wolff admitted last time out he was no longer pursuing Verstappen. “I don’t flirt outside if I’m in a good relationship, and that is true for this year too.”
Marko is “no rational talent spotter”
“So at the moment that [a move for Verstappen] is not on any radar. I don’t plan to shift my concentration away from these guys and make sure that George has some visibility [of his future] very soon, or has a contract very soon.”
Dr. Helmut Marko has been castigated by the F1 media, with Sam Smith accusing him of a dereliction of duty. Speaking to the Race about the decisions behind the Lawson saga he says: “I think what is more pertinent is actually who is fuelling these ludicrous policies? That appears to a great extent to be Helmut Marko, who in my opinion has long since been neither a rational talent spotter or a credible man manager.”
With Verstappen’s convenient – ‘off to Mercedes if you sack Dr. Marko’ – threat now blown, it could be the time Horner moves to make Red Bull’s future one without the influence of Marko. Yet at present the Austrian is running around the European F1 media, justifying himself while all the time Horner watches quietly on.
Marko reveals Verstappen’s thoughts on Lawson sacking
The good Dr. Helmut Marko, advisor to the Red Bull energy empire and head of the Red Bull young driver programme, is hastily doing the media rounds following the shock announcement that Red Bull were demoting the latest team mate of world champion Max Verstappen.
Red Bull started the 2024 season having smashed pretty much every F1 record there is the previous year, winning 21 of the 22 Grand Prix, claiming the constructors’ title with Max leading a 1-2 finish in the drivers’ title race.
And there were no early signs of trouble in Milton Keynes come the start of last season as Verstappen claimed victory in four of the opening five rounds and only losing out in Australia due to a huge brake failure as he was leading the race. Perez to was doing his part to continue the team’s record breaking run converting three of his team mate’s victories into 1-2 finishes along with a third place in China… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
