Helmut Marko reveals what ‘irritates me so much’ about ‘flash in the pan’ Mercedes
Helmut Marko may be a Red Bull employee but even he is “irritated” with Mercedes’ inconsistent form as Formula 1 tackles a third season with the ground-effect aerodynamic cars.
Although Mercedes dominated Formula 1 when the sport introduced 1.6l turbocharged V6 engines back in 2014, Lewis Hamilton lost his crown in 2021 in a ferocious battle with Max Verstappen.
‘But that’s always just a flash in the pan’
Little did anyone know at the time that would be the last season in which the Briton would win a Grand Prix, never mind fight for the World title.
While Mercedes were undone by the new ground-effect aerodynamic regulations introduced a year later in 2022, Red Bull with their Adrian Newey-designed cars came to the fore.
With all but seven races since the start of the new technical era, the team has won back-to-back championship doubles with yet more silverware of the horizon this season.
In sharp contrast Mercedes, who this year overhauled their car, have shown fleeting moments of pace only to be left floundering at the next race, if not the next day.
It irritates Marko, and he’s not even with the team.
Asked if ‘alarm bells’ should be ringing at Brackley, he told OE24: “They probably do anyway.
“What irritates me so much is that the car is really fast at times, and at times it runs at absolute peak times.
“Then I think: ‘Look, now they get it!’ But that’s always just a flash in the pan.”
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Asked about recent comments from former F1 driver Christian Danner that Niki Lauda would’ve steered Mercedes through this crisis ‘better’ than the job Toto Wolff is doing, Lauda defended the team principal.
“It’s not that simple,” he said. “But it won’t happen overnight that you’ll slump like this. What is alarming is that they have not been competitive for the third season now.”
Without Mercedes in the mix and Ferrari not yet on the same level as Red Bull, Verstappen has won three of this season’s four races in 1-2 results.
The only race Red Bull missed out on was Australia where the Dutchman retired and Carlos Sainz took the win for Ferrari.
Facing another season of Red Bull domination, concerns have been raised about Formula 1’s falling TV ratings.
To that, Marko said: “But interest in the races remains unbroken. At the Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, for example, we have over 30,000 Dutch and are already almost sold out.”
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