Helmut Marko sheds light on his decision to quit Red Bull role, admitting that the loss of the championship was the main factor.
Despite widespread speculation that he jumped before he could be pushed, Marko insists that it was entirely his decision to leave Red Bull.
We had a difficult season this year,” he told ORF. “It was particularly bumpy in the middle,” he continued. “We were 104 points behind in Holland, then we started a comeback that was certainly unique. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the last race. We lost the championship by two points.
“Although this comeback was unique, it was still a very bitter disappointment,” he admitted. “It hit us particularly hard. Even after the race, I felt that something had been lost.
“I then stayed in Dubai on Monday, that’s when I made my decision.
“Even if we had won, it would have been a good reason to leave this job. But now, in hindsight, because we lost, it’s also a good point.”
In the aftermath of Sunday’s race there were reports of unrest within the team, that since Christian Horner’s sacking the Austrian had seen himself as untouchable. So much so that he allegedly signed the likes of Alex Dunne and Arvid Lindblad without seeking the all-clear from the team’s top management.
Though he has overseen the end of many drivers’ careers, hence the Lord High Executioner tag, he has also been one of the sport’s great talent spotters, having brought Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen on board.
Asked if he had spoken to Verstappen before making his decision, Marko said: “I didn’t discuss it with anyone, I just called Oliver Mintzlaff, the manager responsible at Red Bull, in Dubai and asked if we could meet briefly. A kind of championship dinner was planned. And we met before the dinner.
“I told him what I wanted. We discussed for a while whether a partial solution was still possible. I said that if we were going to do it, we had to do it completely.
“That happened ad hoc. The other shareholder from the Thai family was also present. But it was all very amicable and went very well.
“Max should have been there too, but there were some problems with his flight, so he wasn’t there. I called him the next day. It wasn’t a normal conversation. There was a certain melancholy in the air. He said he never could have imagined that he would ever achieve such success.”
In closing, the Austrian recalled talking Dietrich Mateschitz, whose company had previously sponsored Sauber, into buying Jaguar in 2004 and then Minardi a year later.
“Let’s try it, maybe we’ll win a grand prix,” Marko quotes Mateschitz as saying.
Well, they won more than a few grands prix, becoming one of the true driving forces of the sport in the modern era.