“I think there’s a misconception about it”– Alex Albon rubbishes media given ‘villian’ tag to Helmut Marko

“I think there’s a misconception about it”– Alex Albon wants an end to the villain perception drawn on Helmut Marko over Red Bull’s approach.

Red Bull had to axe two of their academy drivers- Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon in quick succession, as they were failing to stand up to the expectations of the Milton-Keynes-based team.

Because of this, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has been crucified by the media for allegedly having little patience with the new drivers and adopting a harsh approach towards their treatment.

“I think there’s a misconception about it, truthfully speaking,” Albon told the F1 Nation podcast. “I think that there is that villain role played within the media about it all, but it’s definitely nowhere near like that.

“You guys [the media] know more than I do. I think Helmut probably gets the worst role on the global side of it, but I think it’s just Red Bull in general.”

Albon then points out the winning mentality embedded within the Red Bull’s environment that breeds a cut-throat setting for the drivers that doesn’t spare when one fails to take the heat.

“Firstly, you have to realise they are winning team, they expect good results,” he said. “That leads to a culture within the team of, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not happy’, and that’s how it should be really,” he added.

“Especially the top three teams, generally being Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, that’s what they expect. Of course, it is tough, especially when you don’t have much experience to be in a top top team. But yeah, that is what it is.”

“I think more than anything it’s just trying to get confident with the car.”

I never got the feeling of being sacked

At the end of 2020, it was evident that Red Bull was comprehending Albon’s situation, and his results are frustrating the leadership. But, the Briton reveals he was never made to feel that they would fire him.

“It’s not like there’s this thing, ‘You’ve got to do this. If you don’t do this, that’s it, pack your bags’ kind of thing,” he commented. “They want both cars to do well, that’s the whole intention.”

“You don’t want to put pressure on someone if they’re not performing because, firstly, the media do enough of that. Especially talking about myself, I put myself under the most pressure. It’s no one else that can; there’s no added benefit on the outside. So it’s tricky.

“I think it’s just the way that the car runs quickly, or is quick, is not as easy for Checo [Perez] or myself than it is for Max.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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