Marko ‘stands by’ brutal Red Bull driver decisions

Having earned a reputation for being brutal on drivers, Helmut Marko says he “stands by the decisions” he’s made as it takes a “special” talent to excel in Formula 1.

The only Formula 1 organisation with two teams competing in the sport, Red Bull is in a position of being able to trial youngsters at Racing Bulls with an eye to joining Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing.

Helmut Marko defends brutal Red Bull junior programme

Two teams, four seats, and double the turnover of other teams.

While Verstappen has been an anchor at Red Bull Racing since 2016, he’s had six team-mates – Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Of the six, Gasly only lasted 12 races while Lawson was at the Red Bull Racing for just two weekends this season before he was demoted to Racing Bulls.

Red Bull’s second team has had an even higher turnover with the likes of Sébastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Jean-Éric Vergne, Daniil Kvyat and Brendon Hartley not even in the sport anymore.

But aside from Alguersuari, who quit racing to become a DJ, the rest of the drivers have all had successful careers in motor racing – just not in Formula 1.

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Marko says they have Red Bull to thank for that.

“Actually, I stand by the decisions, and one has to bear in mind that over 95 per cent of the drivers who did not remain in our cadre then go on to race in Formula E, race in WEC, race in DTM or elsewhere,” Marko told F1-Insider.

“They earn good money – far more than they probably could in a civilian profession – and then they do what they love, namely compete in motorsport.

“And that was mainly made possible through our involvement.

“And Formula 1 is the pinnacle, and it requires not only talent but also special characteristics and a certain strength, both mentally and in overall constitution.”

However, it does beg the question, is there any decision that the 82-year-old regrets?

Although not quite a regret, he reckons Red Bull would’ve been done had they signed Nico Hulkenberg instead of Sergio Perez as Verstappen’s team-mate in F1 2021.

But basing the decision on Perez’s 2020 Sakhir win, the team turned away from Hulkenberg and went with the Mexican driver.

He says in hindsight Hulkenberg would’ve been a good choice alongside Verstappen.

“At that time he [Hulkenberg] was, I think, a co-commentator at Servus TV, so there was already a relationship there, and there were the beginnings of talks, but then Perez won that race in Bahrain, I think, and because of that everything turned in Perez’s direction,” Marko said.

“I think it would have been a really nice time, because the two get along very well, and yes, Hulkenberg is a safe bank for points, and in our car it would also have been top positions.”

Perez is being tipped to return to the F1 grid next season with Cadillac while Hulkenberg will continue with Sauber as the team transitions to Audi. As for Verstappen’s F1 2026 team-mate, that’s reportedly a choice between Yuki Tsunoda or Isack Hadjar.

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