Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says their off-track war with Mercedes wouldn’t have escalated if Niki Lauda was still with the Silver Arrows.
There was plenty of animosity between Red Bull and Mercedes in the 2021 F1 season. Their star drivers Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went toe to toe for the Drivers’ title.
It was also the first time since the start of the turbo-hybrid era that we saw a team challenge Mercedes for the Constructors’ Crown.
Verstappen ended up winning his first tile whereas Mercedes took home their 8th consecutive Constructors’ Title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Despite the brilliant battles we saw on track in 2021, the season will also be remembered for the ugly off-field scraps between the team bosses.
Also read: Red Bull boss Christian Horner looks back on a ‘Hollywood’ like 2021 F1 season
Earlier this year, Dutch journalist Jack Plooij insisted that the late Niki Lauda could have prevented the ‘scraps’ between the title rivals. Lauda was a part of the Mercedes F1 team as a non-executive chairman from 2012 till his death in 2019.
“I think Niki Lauda is missed at Mercedes.” Plooij said. “Niki had lunch with Helmut Marko every day. I think a lot of fires were put out there. Maybe we never saw those arise, but now we do. I think Niki would have given Helmut the order ‘keep Horner in his box for a while, then I’ll do it with Toto’.”
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko agrees with those statements.
Lauda would have taken Mercedes’ losses in a much better way says the Red Bull chief
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff traded insults all season long. They criticized each other and their drivers, due to incidents between the two on track.
Often, these ‘insults’ would brew into something larger, and it got a lot more heated as the season progressed. Both team principals agree that they overstepped the line at times, but that it was in their team’s best interest.
Helmut Marko feels that these fights wouldn’t have escalated with Niki Lauda still in the Mercedes garage. He feels that the 4-time World Champion would be a lot more ‘calm’ in situations that saw Wolff or Horner fly off the handle.
“It would not have escalated so much with Niki Lauda.” said Marko. “It would certainly have been tough because he doesn’t like to lose either. But it would have gone with more composure.”
Also read: Toto Wolff on why Lewis Hamilton hasn’t opened about Abu Dhabi GP and following controversies
