Markelov: "We know how Helmut Marko ruins careers of young drivers"
- Published on 22 May 2018 08:44
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- By: Danny Sosef
A Formula 2 driver has counted himself out of speculation about the second Toro Rosso seat. With Brendon Hartley struggling for pace in 2018, rumours suggest Red Bull could entice Pascal Wehrlein out of DTM to replace him at the junior team Toro Rosso.
"That's not the intention at the moment," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Auto Motor und Sport. But Honda-powered Toro Rosso's team boss Franz Tost has admitted he has his eye on Japanese Formula 2 driver Nirei Fukuzumi.
Another F2 driver, though, says he isn't interested in Red Bull or Toro Rosso. "Would I agree to go in the place of Hartley?" Renault development driver Artem Markelov told Sport FM. "If Renault gave the go-ahead it's possible, but of my own volition I would not sit in the Toro Rosso. Knowing Dr Marko, knowing how he ruins the careers of young drivers, I don't need that," Markelov continued.
"There are also rumours that Christian Horner could leave Red Bull, and that Red Bull wants to leave formula one. So they're just rumours but I don't know what the prospects of being at Toro Rosso and Red Bull are," he said.
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Replies (17)
Login to replyjuju_hound
Posts: 180
Just like that he closed the doors to two F1 teams...
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Strong words. Redbull is very high stress environment, and allegedly its not for everyone, particularly the ones looking for a training camp. I think, its fair to expect high standards from the drivers, when rest of the team comes up with great package, year after the year.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Marko is all thats wrong with Red Bull.
TimberVD
Posts: 42
Really? No Marko no Vettel, Ricciardo or Verstappen. He might be controversial but he's a great character for the sport. He's ruthless I'll give you that. But then again, could we really argue Kyvyat deserved to stay on F1? No.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
RB woulda likely produced them anyway.
TimberVD
Posts: 42
He's been overseeing Red Bull's driver development program since 1999...........
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Mainly Marko, but plenty of people are involved in the processes and decision making. Now Im not saying Marko himself has done nothing good, but he is responsible for many of Red Bull's parade issues, such as the excessive pressure on drivers.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@Timbervd @Calle I don't think there's any question that he has a good eye for young talent. But I disagree with the notion that "no Marko no Vettel." Same goes to Ricciardo, Verstappen, and even Sainz. Guys with that kind of talent were always going to make to F1. Kudos to Helmut for finding them. The criticism here is about his management of the careers of drivers. The program works if you happen to be a top 1% kind of a driver. If you're pretty good like (even with potential for greatness) Vergne, Aguersuari, Buemi, and maybe Kvyat... then your career will be destroyed by Red Bull. Just look at the numbers. I'm honestly not sure why, but the numbers don't lie. No driver has ever left Toro Rosso for a team other than Red Bull (Sainz is a special case)
Kean
Posts: 692
@AJ, also Vettel and Verstappen were originally part of another program, Vettel was a BMW driver, and Verstappen a Mercedes driver. I.e. it was BMW and Mercedes that saw the potential early on, but they were unable to give them a race seat. Helmut basically just scooped them up when their talent was evident. Had Mercedes and BMW had a junior team, then one could argue that these drivers never would have joined the Red Bull program. Sainz was almost out at one point in favor of Kvyat... Basically I doubt Helmut's abilities, he just has the good fortune of having four race seats on offer.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yeah, Im very confident that Red Bull woulda raised those drivers anyway, and if not then, then someone else could've picked them up. There is much more to RB's driver programme than Marko.
TimberVD
Posts: 42
Plus, at least the young drivers have had a chance to prove themselves and could make their way up to the main team. Can't really say that of Mercedes and Ferrari!
Kean
Posts: 692
He's not the first "young driver" to publicly trash-talk Helmut, Robin Frijns did so as well while he was on a roll having won the FR 2.0 and the FR 3.5, beating Jules Bianchi. While I may agree with both Markelov and Frijns, it may not be a wise thing to publicly say about a major power figure within F1 if you wanna get a seat anywhere.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
There are so many that have done it that I dont think it bears any reprecussions anymore. 1 angry driver is no angry driver, 2 angry drivers equals 0, but anything after that and things start to take shape.
Kean
Posts: 692
Ok, totally off topic for this story but I can't stay quiet, and for some reason they haven't published this story on this web site..... Michael Latifi and McLaren, that 200 million pound investment must be enough to buy a race seat for his son. If he gets a race seat and leaves Norris or Vandoorne on the sideline it's gotta be the saddest thing in recent memory... I mean Latifi in a McLaren, that's like putting Gelael or Mazepin in a Ferrari.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Im not sure how likely a Stroll 2.0 move is, but since I sorta expect McLaren to be Williams 2.0 it makes sense for them to make a similar move sooner or later. My bet is later, once Alonso leaves (which could be tomorrow or in 5 years, heaven knows when), but who knows?
f1ski
Posts: 726
If outside pressure ruins your career you would never have been succcessful in the first place
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Thats just not true. Excessive pressure can be really bad to any career, especially if introduced at the wrong time.