– During his time as head of Red Bull’s junior squad, Helmut Marko has seen many drivers come and go – some more, some less successful. But one circumstance unites them all: they were able to convince the Austrian, who is considered a tough cookie, that it was worth investing in them.
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“I haven’t hired a single boy unless I was convinced he was ready to give everything to achieve his goal,” Marko says in an interview with the Austrian edition of the Zeit. “I was always at the racetrack, observed everything, and then decided from the gut.”
“Today, every driver has to go into a simulator. But what comes out of it matches my previous assessment 99 percent of the time.”
In addition to talent, the youngsters were also evaluated based on their character suitability: “The long-term development of a young driver costs up to 3,000,000 Euros, money that parents usually have to raise for their 13-year-old son or daughter,” he notes.
“I always wanted to know if the young drivers were aware of the risk to their families if they incurred debts because of them, sometimes even mortgaging their house.”
What spoke for Vettel and Verstappen
The two most successful drivers Marko was able to sign for Red Bull were Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, who each won four consecutive world titles for the racing team and shaped Formula 1 for an entire era.
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Marko still remembers well why he was convinced by both. Of course, Vettel’s sporting achievements alone spoke for him, as he had won 18 out of 20 season races in Formula BMW in 2004. But that wasn’t the decisive factor: “He was dissatisfied that he hadn’t won the other two as well. This unbridled will stuck in my mind,” says Marko.
And Verstappen? “Verstappen gave the impression that the spirit of a 25-year-old man was in his 15-year-old body,” says the Austrian. “Max had a clear goal, which was partly due to the extremely effective and tough training by his father.”
Verstappen’s upbringing “at the limit”?
The Dutchman was drilled for success by his father Jos from an early age. The fact that he was once abandoned at a petrol station because he had caused an accident is a legendary story in the paddock.
Photo gallery: The Helmut Marko era at Red Bull
Even for Marko, Verstappen’s tough schooling is “at the limit,” as he says. An example: “Near Milan, towards Lake Garda, there are two kart tracks where Max had to drive until his fingers were blue. Whether it was only ten degrees or raining, none of that mattered,” says Marko.
However, the Red Bull driver benefits from this today: “When Max drives on the track in bad weather, he is immediately two seconds faster than the others.”
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