“We Gave Lauda Massive Support”: Max Verstappen’s Father-Like Companion Once Miraculously Saved Lewis Hamilton’s Dying F1 Career

After winning his maiden world championship with McLaren in 2008, Lewis Hamilton strived to get back on top for 5 years. As he lost patience, he made a switch to Mercedes, a move that received a lot of flak at the time. In a sensational interview, Red Bull’s Helmut Marko revealed Red Bull wanted to get him on their team. However, as things did not work out, they helped Mercedes land their target.

Hamilton had run out of patience with McLaren and, as per rumors, the DNF in the 2012 Singapore GP acted as the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The Briton was in touch with Red Bull, however, they did not have an empty cockpit to offer him. However, the man Max Verstappen once dubbed “like a father”, Helmut Marko, acted as Lewis’ guardian angel.

In a 2019 interview with Motorsport-Total, Helmut Marko said, “Lewis was really unhappy at McLaren. […] We didn’t have any free space. So we thought, it’s better if he goes to Mercedes. We gave [Niki] Lauda massive support in recruiting Lewis.” [Translated using Google]

“McLaren was our strongest opponent at the time. In retrospect, it would have been much better if he had stayed with McLaren. You can see how tactically you are sometimes wrong.”

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Mercedes, for the first time in many years, struggled for pace in 2022. Lewis Hamilton, for the first time in his career, went a full season without a race win. However, towards the end of the season, they did manage a perfect 1-2 finish in Brazil.

Helmut Marko believes Lewis Hamilton’s dry run won’t continue for too long

Mercedes introduced their final set of amendments to the car ahead of the US Grand Prix. Ever since then, the car showed a blistering pace and challenged Red Bull for the race win. While the win remained elusive at COTA and in Mexico, it finally came to Brazil.

Speaking with Bild, Helmut Marko said, “Ferrari is strong, but Mercedes will be stronger as a whole. Especially with a driver like Lewis Hamilton. He’s still a top pilot. Although Ferrari also has a very good driver in [Charles] Leclerc, he still makes mistakes.”

When asked if he thought Hamilton’s dry run would continue in 2023, Marko answered, “Unfortunately, I’m afraid not. Mercedes fought their way to us over the year. Although they are not yet at eye level, they have more time in the wind tunnel to develop the car. But I’m not too worried. We are on the right track for 2023 and with Max, we have the best driver in the field.”

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Red Bull is carrying a heavy penalty of a 10% reduction of wind tunnel time because of the 2021 cost cap breach. The sanction could act as a massive dent in their 2023 car’s development. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will certainly look to make the most of this opportunity and bounce back on top.