- August 20, 2022
Who is Dr Helmut Marko? What does he do at Redbull?
If you’ve watched a Formula 1 race, you’ve definitely seen this guy’s face.
That’s Dr Helmut Marko. But,
Why is he called Doctor? And what does he do at Redbull?
To start off. He’s a controversial figure
He sometimes has no filter and just speaks his mind. And it’s safe to say that it has led to a lot of hate towards the old man.
Helmut Marko is 79 years old. He was born in Austria and he completed his doctorate of law before starting his career as a racing driver. The man also raced in many series from the British touring car championship to the 24 hours of le man to even Formula 1. But he didn’t enjoy great success in Formula 1. That was because his career was cut short.
In 1972, at the French Grand Prix. the car in front of him threw up a stone with such force, that it pierced his visor and went into his eye. He was blinded in his left eye and he had to retire from the sport.
This is what his helmet looked like. That’s just bad luck, even for a guy whose name sounds incredibly close to the word Helmet.
Helmut Marko’s helmet from the 1972 French GP, where a stone pierced the visor & cost him his left eye…
🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/1CfZ9EcwaF
— Stuart Dent (@Stuart_Dent) February 6, 2016
But the passion for motorsports very rarely goes away. He soon entered into driver management and he was pretty good at it.
In 1999, that’s when he officially became a part of Redbull. He was officially in charge of the Redbull junior drivers program.
And that’s what he does
He manages the junior drivers of Redbull racing. He’s constantly in search of the next talented driver who can go on and become a Formula 1 world champion.
He’s done it before.
He discovers a young Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. it’s not just them. He’s looked after the career of most of the Redbull drivers on the grid. And that’s a lot of the mind you.
- Valtteri Bottas
- Guanyu Zhou
- Pierre Gasly
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Fernando Alonso
- Esteban Ocon
- Sebastian Vettel
- Lance Stroll
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Mick Schumacher
- Kevin Magnussen
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Lando Norris
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Max Verstappen
- Sergio Pérez
- Alex Albon
- Nicholas Latifi
Out of the 20 drivers on the grid, 7 have come from the Redbull drivers academy, which goes to show you just how serious he is about the program.
In conclusion
He’s been criticized for his treatment of drivers. I said before, he speaks what’s on his mind, and he even acts the same way. Drivers have been axed mid-season because he did not think that they were on the level yet.
But as much as you hate the man, you have to admire him for what he’s done. He took a team that had almost no racing history and turned it into a powerhouse of Formula 1 by providing it with drivers who were just incredible.
So all we can do now is, sit back, relax, admire the man, and hope he doesn’t say anything stupid.
Oh and here’s a bonus clip featuring Adrian Newey. He’s a formula 1 car designer who loves aerodynamics. He’s won 10 championships with three teams which goes on to show you that the dude knows how to design a car. And this is a clip about how Dr Helmut Marko tried to convince him to join Redbull way back in 2006.