Amid Mercedes’ Worsening Driver Divide, Helmut Marko Highlights Toto Wolff’s Gross Past Managerial Error

Red Bull and Mercedes are literally going through opposite scenarios at the moment. In Red Bull, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko want Sergio Perez to find his lost form and at least try to match Max Verstappen. At Mercedes, Toto Wolff is struggling to contain Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s newfound rivalry. The Mercedes boss recently underwent knee surgery and hasn’t been able to make it to the past two race weekends. Without him, it’s like there’s free rein in the Mercedes garage with no proper order. It’s basically been chaos.

Following their head-butting at the Japanese GP (which Wolff had to put a stop to from home), Hamilton and Russell crashed at the Qatar GP. While Russell initially apologized for the incident, he realized he couldn’t have done anything to avoid it. He was making his case on the radio, and Wolff, again, had to interfere. Things between Hamilton and Russell aren’t okay. Things at Mercedes aren’t okay. To add to Wolff’s troubles, Helmut Marko rubbed salt on his freshly formed wounds.

This isn’t the first time Toto Wolff has had a managerial conundrum

For two weeks, Wolff took time off for himself. For two weeks, he left his team in what he thought were capable hands. And in those two weeks, Mercedes came agonizingly close to an implosion. While Hamilton and Russell may put up a united front in front of the cameras, the divide between them has never been this big. It’s almost like Wolff and Mercedes are on the cusp of reliving Hamilton’s 2016 rivalry with Nico Rosberg. As Mercedes sorts through its issues, Red Bull couldn’t be in a better place. Well, at least with Verstappen.

The Dutchman became a three-time champion at the Qatar GP, equalling Ayrton Senna’s championship tally. After the weekend—where Sergio Perez had yet another nightmarish outing—former driver Gerhard Berger compared the Red Bull pairing to his time at McLaren with Senna. Just like he couldn’t help but watch Senna dominate, Perez has had to settle for that. Listening to Berger making that comparison, Marko couldn’t help but think of the time he did so himself. And he did it in the presence of his Austrian compatriot, Toto Wolff.

In an interview with oe24, as quoted by GPFans, Marko said, “At first, [Wolff] didn’t share my enthusiasm for Max. When I first made [the Senna] comparison, he said, ‘That’s enough now!’ Mr. Wolff also commented at the time that the talent was not apparent.” This was probably toward the end of 2014, right before Red Bull snatched Verstappen up after his exploits in F3 as a 16-year-old. Wolff didn’t recognize the talent in Verstappen, “and [as a manager], he took on [Esteban] Ocon.” Had he seen Verstappen for the talent he is, the F1 community could’ve gotten what it’s wanted for quite some time—a Verstappen-Hamilton partnership.

Read More: Helmut Marko Unleashes Fury at Toto Wolff Over Attempts to Dismantle Red Bull

Marko merely highlighted a managerial faux pas Wolff made back in the day. Yes, it wasn’t Wolff’s best judgment call, but it didn’t really jeopardize anything. On the other hand, Wolff called Marko out for something that could’ve jeopardized F1 as a whole. 

Helmut Marko “embarrassed” F1

It’s no secret that Perez is having a tough time at Red Bull. His form has been at an all-time low for the better part of the season. He knows it, and Red Bull knows it. Although he’s trying to do the best he can, his performances have not met the standards he set in the first few races. The bottom line is that he’s been inconsistent (or consistent in bad performances). Here’s what Marko had to say about Perez’s form: “We know that [Perez] has problems in qualifying. He has fluctuations in form. He is South American, and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] or as Sebastian [Vettel].” 

What was the need to bring in ethnicity, Marko? The Red Bull taskmaster received a lot of flak for his comments and even had to apologize on live TV. F1, as a sport, doesn’t tolerate any kind of discrimination. And Marko’s remarks were wrong on so many levels. Wolff gave his thoughts on the subject, saying, “I think it’s so embarrassing for Formula 1 overall. It’s not even saying it. It’s to have that mindset to even come up with these things.” As a member of not just F1 but also society, how could Marko have said what he said?

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Had Toto Wolff brought Max Verstappen under his wing, do you think F1 could’ve potentially seen a Verstappen-Hamilton pairing?