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| Helmut Marko and S. Vettel, photo by gptoday.com |
As long as Dr. Helmut Marko is Red Bull’s consultant, his quotes will not leave people indifferent. Sometimes, he could be so unpredictable, sometimes his words sound like thunder, like” Yesterday was different! “As the eventful F1 2020 season draws to a close, let’s read Dr. Helmut Marko’s quotes on the highlights of current topics that make you smile or think.
Helmut Marko is a consultant for the Red Bull Formula 1 teams since 2005. Born on 27 April 1943 in Graz, Austria. Marko holds a doctorate in law since 1967. He owns two hotels in Graz – the Schlossberghotel and the Augartenhotel. He was manager of the Austrian racing drivers Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger. Since 1999 he has headed the Red Bull driver development program, which brings talented drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen into Formula 1.
Coronavirus
It started at the beginning of the year when he suggested to the Austrian television station ORF a “coronavirus camp” to infect the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri drivers:
“We have four Formula 1 drivers and eight or ten juniors.”
“The idea was that we organize a camp to mentally and physically bridge the dead time and that would be the ideal time for the infection to come.
“These are all strong young men in really good health. That way they would be prepared whenever the action starts. And you can be ready for what will probably be a very tough championship once it starts.”
Asked how his vision was received by Red Bull executives, he added:
“Let’s put it this way, it has not been well received.”
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| Dr. Helmut Marko Red Bull Racing F1 Team |
Dr. Helmut Marko about Red Bull prospects for the 2020 season:
He came with direct willing to fight for F1 constructor’s championship, as telling Motorsport-Total.com:
“We want to fight for the World Championship, and we know that we have to be competitive with the chassis right from the start, so from the very first race”.
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| Helmut Marko with Christian Horner |
“Honda has made gains for next year and, after everything that has been achieved so far, we assume that this [fighting from the start of the season] will happen. That means we have no excuses.”
Honda’s withdrawal from Formula 1
When announcing Honda’s retirement from Formula 1, Helmut Marko was very vocal in his conversation with Speedweed:
“We work in all directions because we knew about Honda’s decision for a long time.
“Mr. Horner is a team principal, but not involved in strategic matters. Mr. Mateschitz and I have known for a long time.”
Then Dr Helmut Marko was accused of blackmailing the teams into agreeing to an engine stop so that Red Bull could take over the Honda program, telling Auto Bild,
“The deciding factor is whether the engines will be frozen in their development from 2022.
“Otherwise we don’t have the capacity to operate these very complicated engines. This is not blackmailing, this is a fact.”
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| Lewis Hamilton vs Helmut Marko |
Lewis Hamilton and Against Racism Actions.
Dr. Helmut Marko received recognition after Lewis Hamilton accused him of racism
“Some drivers are distracted, talking about lives which matter”.
It cited German broadcaster RTL was quoted as the source for the quote, but this was not confirmed. Hamilton reacted strongly to the alleged quote and wrote on social media:
“Helmut, it deeply saddens me that you consider fighting for equal treatment of black people and people of colour a distraction. I’m actually quite offended.”
Marko said that as far as he was concerned, the matter was dealt with, “in good faith” and his sympathies lay with Hamilton telling Motorsport.com,
“He is emotionally very involved.“As a racing driver, he is not obliged to do research whether this is true or not. In that respect, his reaction is understandable to me.”
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| Helmut Marko and Daniil Kvyat |
Dr. Helmut Marko Red Bull Drivers:
The strongest sentence went to Daniil Kvyat, who fulfilled his hopes of staying in Formula One with a strong performance in Imola. His dreams were shattered when Helmut Marko told Sky Germany,
“No (laughs), it was a good performance but it will not help him in the future or to position himself in the future.”
Pierre Gasly after his victory in Monza, who gave the Frenchman hope of a return to Red Bull, but that was in vain.
“That’s not a consideration at the moment. “Gasly is one of our Red Bull drivers, he is currently with Alpha Tauri and is doing a great job there. But we also need a team leader there.”
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| Helmut Marko and Alex Albon |
Despite quotes from Helmut Marko about other drivers, Alex Albon avoided harsh phrases in his speech.
“Everyone falls away against Max. But the criticism of Albon is not entirely fair. He’s been very unlucky this year and we made strategic mistakes that affected his performance.
“If Alex Albon performs well then he stays. If not, there will be deliberation. We would then see which drivers that are good are on the market. But that’s not an issue at the moment.”
Referring to November:
“Sergio Perez’s victory in Bahrain has no influence on our decisions,” – f1-insider.com. But that is why he is Helmut Marko, Red Bull signed Perez.
In addition, Helmut Marko will also have a lot to do next year, as he revealed to Motorsport-Total.com,
“I have a deal with [Red Bull founder] Dietrich Mateschitz: as long as I can do it mentally and physically, I will.”
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