“If You Can’t Handle Pressure…” Tight-Lipped Helmut Marko Reveals Cruel Secret Behind Red Bull’s F1 Success

When we hear Red Bull, we think of Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, and Christian Horner, but we can often overlook the services of Helmut Marko in the team. Advising such a big team and planning the team’s future is a challenge. Talking to Car and driver Marko gave fans a glimpse into Red Bull’s journey and the sacrifices he had to make to reach success.

The Austrian is a former racing driver who is currently working with Red bull as an advisor. Marko is with the team since its inception, so it’s needless to say that the man has seen all the highs and lows. Whether it’s winning 6 driver’s championships and  5 WCCs or witnessing Mercedes dominance for 8 years, Marko has experienced it all.

Since 2005, Red Bull has been no ordinary team. The team is an F1 maverick and is under constant pressure to perform well. The pressure has always been enormous and Marko has faced it very calmly. In conversation with Car and Driver, Marko talks about Red Bull’s way up to winning championships.

He said, “We make championships possible. Of course there is a lot of pressure. But if you can’t handle the pressure, racing is not the right business for you.”

Marko further added how he had the desire to make his team the most competitive one. He said, “My focus was to be as competitive as possible. I am honest about what we expect and in the end it worked.”

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Helmut Marko has nourished the team since its inception. So it is only natural that he looked out for the team’s reputation as he termed the rumors surrounding the Cost Cap saga as baseless and unpleasant.

Helmut Marko did not divulge any details about Christian Horner’s meeting with FIA

At the beginning of October, there were whispers that Red Bull is one of the two teams that are guilty of breaching the budget cap, the first being Aston Martin. Since then, it has been confirmed and the cost cap saga has taken many turns.

Amid all this, Red Bull have held on to their statement that they are not involved in any wrongdoings. Last month, Christian Horner had a meeting with the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem during the US GP weekend to discuss the cost cap breach. The rival teams are not going easy on the Milton Keynes side. From time to time, the opposition is firing on at the Austrian team.

Helmut Marko feels unpleasant about all of it. He said, “That’s the most unpleasant…completely baseless rumours with the most serious allegations,” he said. “But that didn’t come from the FIA, it came from the competitors.”

Marko chooses not to divulge the details of the meet but had a message for the rivals. He said, “Winning doesn’t make many friends. Some think they are gaining an advantage by doing this, but they don’t think outside the box.”

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Whether it’s on the track or off the track, the Austrian advisor would always defend his team. The season has gone fantastically well for Red Bull and they’ll hope to continue the good run for the last two races as well. But coming back to the cost cap debate, do you think the punishment for Red Bull ($7M fine and 10% reduction in wind tunnel time) fits the crime?