Before becoming the stern Red Bull figure that he is today, Helmut Marko had a long racing history. The Austrian is a Le Mans winner and came very close to racing for Ferrari in F1. Marko was one of the leading figures in Austrian motorsport alongside the country’s first F1 champion, Jochen Rindt. Both shared a splendid life as well. Rindt and Marko went way back as childhood friends and indulged in a lot of wild activities back in their formative years.
Both Marko and Rindt were born and raised in Graz, Austria. The former narrated some of their wild anecdotes that involved house parties, girls, and even some driving without a license, in a conversation with Red Bull in 2020.
Marko stated, “Whenever someone’s parents went away for a weekend, a party was organized at their house or flat. And Jochen – who was a year older than me – was brilliant for that because he always brought the best girls along.”
The 80-year-old also cited how they managed to get a VW Beetle for driving to school from Rindt’s grandfather. Marko narrated that Rindt’s granddad arranged the car with a chauffeur. However, the mischievous group of Marko and Rindt got rid of the chauffeur by claiming, “One of our classmates has a driving license. We’ll save money that way.”
While they had a friend with a license, most of the guys who drove the VW Beetle to school didn’t have one. Marko in this manner had his enjoyment back in the old days with Rindt and their other friends. Although Rindt had his days of fun with Marko, he also left a legacy in Austrian motorsports.
Rindt was the only F1 driver to win the championship posthumously in 1970. His infamous crash at Monza, which proved fatal, influenced the Austrian nation to adopt F1 in its culture. Moreover, he is also the reason behind F1 holding an Austrian GP in Spielberg.
How did Jochen Rindt become a “Motorsport pop star” as Helmut Marko took a different route?
Both Helmut Marko and Jochen Rindt failed to graduate from school amid some recognition revoking faced by their school. This provoked them to run in the opposite direction and they ran off in Rindt’s car to the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
When the noise of the cars going at breathtaking speeds fell on Rindt’s ears, he gained a liking for F1. However, Marko felt that it was astonishing for them to dream of getting into racing. He stated, “that was such an unimaginably distant prospect for us.”
However, Rindt stuck to this decision of pursuing international racing and got to F1. Unlike his schoolmate, Marko chose a different path as his father suggested to study Law. Rindt, on the other hand, rose to fame as he grew his racing stature in Formula 1.
Marko described Rindt as “motorsport’s first pop star”, the reason being his glamorous lifestyle. While the Red Bull advisor admitted that Rindt didn’t change as a person, his external personality looked like that of a film star.
Despite the rise in fame, Rindt and Marko often enjoyed parties together in Graz, and their friendship endured. After all, even Marko tasted success in motorsport with endurance racing and raced briefly in F1 too after Rindt’s death.
