Red Bull newbie warned about Marko

Former F1 driver and current pundit, Paul di Resta, has warned Red Bull youngster, Pierre Gasly, about the team’s ‘ruthless’ motorsport chief, Dr. Helmut Marko. The Austrian has quite a reputation for giving damaging media statements with drivers he is unhappy with.

“If Marko chooses someone, he will take it seriously,” di Resta explained to Motorsport.com. “But in front of every rider he gets promoted, there is also a driver he drops, he is pretty ruthless in.”

Di Resta, who drove for Force India in the early part of the decade and one race for Williams last year, cited the example of some Red Bull recruits who were axed too early.  

“Some were fired (too early), when I was not sure they deserved something like that. You only have a chance, if he feels that you really deserve it.” His fellow pundit, Martin Brundle, himself a former driver and a one-time teammate to Michael Schumacher, chose to disagree.

“With (Sebastian) Vettel, Ricciardo and Verstappen, you cannot say that he really did anything wrong,” he explained. However, he understood why Marko can be thought of as impatient. “People like Buemi and Vergne have not been given enough time in F1,” he said.

Gasly jumped the queue of Red Bull juniors when he was picked to partner Verstappen, as he leapfrogged Carlos Sainz Jr., who joined McLaren, to the spot. The vacancy was created by Ricciardo announcing his move to Renault.

No one can argue that the young Frenchman did not deserve the seat though. He had thoroughly impressed in the junior categories of racing and bided his time before being called up for a full season with the Red Bull sister team, Toro Rosso, this season.

Along with former Red Bull academy driver, Brendon Hartley, he has propelled Toro Rosso to a decent midfield runner, with a number of good races this season, including a career-best fourth position at Bahrain.

In addition to it, they have scored more points than the past few seasons, all of which contributed to the decision to promote him.