Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently gave an interview, in which he explained how he is missing three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda, whose birthday just passed by. During the same interview, the Austrian revealed the one thing that is common between him and Lauda. While speaking to F1-Insider.com (as quoted by RBR Daily), Marko said,
“I will miss it very, very much. Especially our breakfast together. He got down to business like me. Of course, there was also an argument. But two humming bears like we were always found together afterwards“.
Lauda, who sadly passed away five years ago, shared a huge rivalry with Marko as he was associated with Mercedes, whereas the 80-year-old Austrian is a part of rivals Red Bull. Despite being in arch-rival teams, the two shared a strong bond.
Moreover, Marko once also revealed in an interview that things would have never gotten heated between the two teams, had Lauda still been alive. Following the tense title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021, Marko gave an interesting interview to Servus TV.
The Red Bull advisor explained that Lauda is an individual who would have gotten more composure at Mercedes. Marko believes that while his compatriot has always been as tough as him, he still believes that the three-time F1 champion would have handled the emotions at the Silver Arrows much better than the way the likes of Toto Wolff did.
Lauda played a crucial role in helping Mercedes achieve the success they did as he was the reason why the team managed to sign Lewis Hamilton. Moreover, Lauda also played a crucial role in managing the tensions between Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to ensure that they worked together as a team.
Thanks to Lauda’s astute leadership, the Silver Arrows managed to win the championship from 2014 to 2016 despite the heated tensions between Rosberg and Hamilton, who had multiple incidents on the race track. Hence, it’s no surprise that even someone as senior as Marko idolized Lauda.
Helmut Marko had the highest amount of respect for Niki Lauda
In another interview with Austrian TV channel oe24.TV, Helmut Marko explained how he always shared a strong friendship with Niki Lauda. Marko stated that Lauda was his “constant companion” throughout his racing career and also when they transitioned into management.
Since he has shared “so many experiences” and so many “funny events” with Lauda, Marko stated that his compatriot’s death hurt him greatly. “That’s just hard. There is no one in the whole Formula 1 scene who can even get close to him in terms of personality, humor, and straightforwardness,” explained Marko.
Marko then concluded his remarks by referring to Lauda as irreplaceable. While Marko’s racing career ended prematurely due to him suffering an accident that blinded his left eye, Lauda went on to win three championships and register 25 victories.
