“The atmosphere at Toro Rosso was quite toxic with Sainz and Verstappen”

Helmut Marko gave an update on Red Bull Academy members currently competing in Formula 1 in ‘The Red Bulletin’. Of the twenty drivers present on the grid, eight are or have been part of the structure of the Austrian team, and the counselor wanted to revisit their career with the energy drink team.

Max Verstappen

Once again he praised Max Verstappen, “the fastest driver we’ve ever had”, says the Red Bull adviser. Marko also praises the role Jos Verstappen has played in his son’s career: “Max is a champion who received the perfect tools from his father, and now he is much more relaxed after winning the title.” The Austrian describes him as “a generational talent who speaks his mind clearly”.

carlos sainz

Marko also had words for Carlos Sainz, the one who says that “He is one of the best drivers, who was even almost on par with Max.” The Austrian said that “the atmosphere at Toro Rosso was quite toxic” when the two coincided in the Faenza team and that therefore “they did not see how they could keep it [a Carlos]”. He also pointed out that Sainz was faster than Vettel in a fast corner when the German was at Red Bull.

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Sebastian Vettel

Regarding the quadruple world champion, Helmut Marko affirms that he reminds him of his compatriot Niki Lauda and that “he exploited all the technical possibilities in an optimal way”, which earned him “much more power than Mark Webber”. He acknowledges that Vettel is a hard worker, and that being “a technical expert has led him to win four world championships”

Czech Perez

The Red Bull adviser also admitted they were already interested in Czech Perez at the start of the Mexican, but that “his sponsors had another path in mind”. Helmut again compares him to Max: “He came in confident after his first victory, but then he met Max. Uncertainty sets in, but little by little he is recovering from it. Without him, Verstappen would not have been champion.”

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Marko mentions the Dutchman’s name again to talk about Daniel Ricardo, of whom he says that “he is fast as soon as he gets in the car”, but whose career was cut short when Verstappen arrived: “Instead of trying to fight, he tried to distance himself, And we already know how it ended. He is as fast as Max, but he lacks consistency.”

The Austrian also had words for the Alpha Tauri riders. Of Pierre Gasly claims he lost to Max and that “he was looking for excuses instead of correcting his mistakes”; of your partner Tsunoda recognizes that “Not your typical Japanese. He is neither courteous nor disciplined, but it is very fast”. Finally, he also talked about Alex Albon, whose departure from Red Bull, according to Marko, could have been caused by Lewis Hamilton after his two touches: “After Austria 2020, where he would have won, it took him a long time to recover.”