Helmut Marko

Verstappen was engaged in a close battle with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton throughout the F1 season-opener in Bahrain that was settled in the final stages.<br>Verstappen overtook Hamilton with four laps to go around the outside of Turn 4, but was forced to hand back the position after officials ruled that he made the overtake off-track.<br>Hamilton was then able to fend Verstappen off in the ...

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Verstappen and Mercedes rival Hamilton were engaged in a race-long battle for the win in F1’s season-opener, which was ultimately settled in the dying moments of the race.<br>Verstappen caught Hamilton in the final stint and overtook him with four laps to go, but completed the move off-track and was forced to hand back the position.<br>Hamilton managed to keep Verstappen behind through the ...

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After being dropped by Ferrari last year, four-time F1 world champion Vettel explored a number of options before ultimately signing with the rebranded Aston Martin squad for 2021.<br>Vettel endured a difficult debut for Aston Martin in Bahrain. After being knocked out in Q1 and receiving a grid penalty, the German driver finished 15th after a clash with Esteban Ocon that landed him a 10-second ...

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Tsunoda will make his F1 debut next weekend in Bahrain after being promoted by Red Bull to its sister team off the back of his third-place finish in Formula 2 last year.<br>After completing private tests for AlphaTauri in old F1 machinery, Tsunoda enjoyed his first extended running in the team's 2021 car in Bahrain last week.<br>Tsunoda turned heads with his charge to second place in the ...

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The promising pace and reliability that Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez showed over the three days in Bahrain was in contrast to the difficulties that Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas encountered.<br>Although the general consensus is that Red Bull is coming out of testing in pretty good shape, the Milton Keynes-based team is far from complacent about things. It knows Mercedes has a ...

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The four-time world champion had hoped to add more title success at Ferrari after joining the team in 2015, but in the end he fell short of that target and the team elected not to continue with him for this year.<br>Amid some fairly public struggles over the past two years, which have included lacklustre performances and driver errors, some have questioned whether Vettel has past his ...

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With Red Bull having been open that it would look outside its current pool of drivers if Albon did not deliver what it wanted, Sergio Perez ultimately ended up landing the second Red Bull seat for 2021.<br>However, Russell would have been an obvious contender based on his pure speed after showing at the Sakhir Grand Prix that he had the pace to win when he stood in for Lewis ...

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Incumbent Alex Albon, who is in competition for the drive with Sergio Perez, was given until the end of the season to prove his case. <br>Albon had a strong run from fifth on the grid to fourth at the flag in Abu Dhabi, and he finished just behind two seconds behind world champion Lewis Hamilton.<br>“It was one of his best races,” Marko told Motorsport.com. “Still, we will think it over ...

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Having been dropped by Racing Point, Perez is still waiting for a decision on whether Red Bull Racing will retain Alex Albon in 2021 or give him the seat.<br>Red Bull's management made it clear some time ago that it would wait until after the final race in Abu Dhabi, in order to give Albon the maximum opportunity to prove himself.<br>Perez insists that he is not in a hurry.<br>"I had ...

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Although the Thai driver's average qualifying position of P9 is five places further back than teammate Max Verstappen, and in races it is P7 v P2, Marko says Red Bull's analysis offers a better insight into his form.<br>Marko cites the fact that at Silverstone, Albon was the quickest man on track at some points of both races – which shows the potential to do well is there if he can lift his ...

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<br>Speaking to Motorsport.com last year, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said Red Bull had no interest in entering FE “because we’re racing purists” and it did not fit with the brand’s promotional activities.<br>He added: “As good as we are in marketing, Formula E is for us only a marketing excuse from the automotive industry to distract from the diesel ...

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Hamilton issued strongly-worded posts on social media on Wednesday criticising Marko after incorrectly believing the Austrian had claimed the world champion had been distracted from his F1 focus by his support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.<br>However, it quickly emerged that Marko had never made such comments, and the website that had published the remarks confessed later that it had taken ...

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Red Bull’s motorsport boss is adamant that Vettel is a “non-topic” for the team and the parent company.<br>Vettel, who will be leaving Ferrari at the end of this year, has remained on friendly terms with the Red Bull camp since he left for Ferrari at the end of 2014.<br>However Marko told Sky Germany earlier this year that a return to Red Bull was unlikely, explaining that his view “for ...

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The Austrian, who is known to have been outspoken in his views during his long tenure as advisor to Dietrich Mateschitz, believed that exposing his drivers to coronavirus now would help make them immune in the future when the racing season got going again.<br>Speaking in a video interview with Austrian television station ORF, Marko said: "We have four Formula 1 drivers, and eight or 10 ...

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Leclerc will head into his third F1 season in 2020, having taken two wins and seven pole positions in his first campaign as a Ferrari driver last year.<br>He had remained unsigned by an F1 team in the early years of his junior career until 2016, before taking back-to-back championships in GP3 and F2 after joining the Ferrari junior programme.<br>Marko has no regrets about the current state of the ...

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Verstappen has just signed a long-term deal that will keep him at the Red Bull Formula 1 outfit until the end of 2023, with his sights firmly set on winning the world championship.<br>Marko is full of praise for the young Dutchman, who he says has qualities that stretch well beyond his ‘extraordinary driving talent.”<br>In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Marko reflects how on his ...

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The energy drink giant has long placed an emphasis on homegrown talent in signing drivers for its main F1 outfit and the junior team, which will be known in 2020 as AlphaTauri.<br>A shortage of F1-ready drivers in its junior scheme two years ago led to Red Bull signing Brendon Hartley, who had left its programme back in 2010 and had subsequently won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance ...

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Backed by Red Bull through the entirety of his junior career, Sainz spent just under three full seasons racing for its secondary outfit Toro Rosso in F1, before being loaned to Renault.<br>The French manufacturer opted against retaining the on-loan Sainz for 2019, and Red Bull preferred to promote Pierre Gasly instead of Sainz for the Daniel Ricciardo-vacated seat, which led to Sainz being ...

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Gasly spent the first half of the 2019 season with RBR, logging a best finish of fourth at Silverstone, before being replaced by Alex Albon after the summer break.<br>Marko says that the Frenchman, who took a sensational second place in Brazil, has got his career back on track after his demotion.<br>“He’s recovered, and now we see the real Pierre,” Marko told Motorsport.com. “We always ...

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While the Milton Keynes-based outfit always knew that 2019 would be a transition year on the back of its switch to Honda, the team was also held back by early-season chassis headaches.<br>It took some time to get on top of the impact of front wing regulation changes for this year, and it was not until the Austrian Grand Prix that it was able to unlock the full potential of its car.<br>Red Bull ...

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Last month, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said a decision on which of its drivers would take the second Red Bull seat in 2020 would be made after this year's Mexico race.<br>But with that event having now passed, Marko has confessed that his original date target was an error because he had not realised at the time that its slot in the calendar had been switched around with the United ...

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With Honda having made good progress this year to take its first wins since returning to F1 in 2015, Marko says the indications point to even better things to come next season.<br>"From the chassis side I think we will be much better prepared than this year," said Marko about 2020 hopes in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.<br>"And the development which is going on at Honda makes us ...

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Another difficult weekend for Gasly at the German Grand Prix, which included a crash in practice and a race-ending clash with Alex Albon, has fuelled further speculation about his future with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.<br>His situation has also not been helped by Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat recording a podium finish, meaning Red Bull has an obvious replacement if it needs one.<br><br>Read ...

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Lauda, who was Mercedes’ non-executive chairman, passed away on Monday night aged 70, after battling health issues for almost a year.<br>Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko says he first met his fellow Austrian “around 1968” and the two followed each closely through their racing careers and later when they moved into non-driving roles.<br>“I knew he was not in a good condition, but still ...

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The bet was made during last year's silly season, when then Red Bull driver Ricciardo was considering his future options.<br>He believed that Valtteri Bottas would leave Mercedes, and Marko bet him that the Finn would stay with the Brackley team, which proved to be correct.<br>"He did win €1000," said Ricciardo when asked by Motorsport.com about the bet. "He always wants to bet more – but when ...

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