In 2012, Lewis Hamilton shocked everyone by announcing his exit from McLaren. The Briton agreed to join Mercedes from the 2013 season onwards on a multi-year contract. This was a big surprise as Mercedes were only a midfield team until then, while Hamilton remained one of the title contenders at the time.
He struggled with McLaren and was frustrated with the team’s slow pace and reliability issues. After his inability to compete against Sebastian Vettel in Red Bull, he left his boyhood team.
The move was celebrated in the Red Bull garage as the team saw one of its biggest rivals weaken. Especially Helmut Marko rejoiced in Hamilton’s downfall, but now the Austrian wishes he bit his tongue.
How Helmut Marko helped Mercedes land Lewis Hamilton
Towards the end of the 2012 season, Mercedes was looking for the retiring Michael Schumacher’s replacement. This put then Mercedes’s advisor Niki Lauda in a fix.
Lauda consulted his friend and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko regarding the matter. To which, the fellow Austrian told the 3x champion to consider talking with Lewis Hamilton.
Lauda immediately resumed talks with the former McLaren driver, who was reluctant to join Mercedes at the start. However, after much convincing, the Briton agreed to the move.
Marko rejoiced the deal as he thought the move had benefitted Red Bull. He said, “Niki has done us a favor,” as he believed both McLaren and Hamilton wouldn’t be troubling his team for the title next year.
He added, “He has weakened Lewis and McLaren. Next year, we have two opponents less.” However, after a decade, the Austrian regrets telling his friend to sign Hamilton
Marko regrets tipping off Mercedes about Hamilton
In the years that followed, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes demolished their competition. Hamilton won 6 championships, and Mercedes won 8 consecutive constructors titles.
Helmut Marko revealed recently that he did give Niki Lauda information about the availability of the Briton. The Austrian admits to not having any “altruistic” motive.
He said, “At the time, we thought he would be less of a threat to us at Mercedes than at McLaren.” However, the Red Bull advisor was proven wrong. The duo dethroned the formidable duo of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull and would dominate F1 for the entire Turbo-hybrid era.
The Austrian claims this was one of his biggest mistakes as Red Bull’s advisor. He continued, “In hindsight, that was a complete misjudgement. Although at the time it was not foreseeable with the knowledge I have today, I would definitely not do that again.”
11 years later, the racer has emerged as one of the greatest drivers of all time. Mercedes and Hamilton dominated F1’s turbo-hybrid era claiming 82 race wins, 143 podiums, and 77 pole positions. With Mercedes, he leveled Michael Schumacher’s tally of 7 F1 championships and has broken all the records.
