How Marko made Red Bull’s talent factory the most successful Formula 1

Max VerstappenThe record-breaking increase has changed formula 1 forever, but the man who helped him make his debut says the Dutchman has reshaped both ends of the racing pyramid.

Helmut Marko, known as the godfather of Red Bull’s driver program, is always on the lookout for the company’s next superstar. The Austrian played a crucial role in Verstappen making his F1 debut in 2015 in the colors of Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso (now RB) rather than Mercedes.

Marko notices Verstappen’s legacy every time he goes to a kart track to look for the next generation of world-class drivers.

“People always say, ‘Oh, the Verstappen example,’ but a lot has changed,” Marko told ESPN about today’s up-and-coming karting talents. “Now everyone thinks, ‘My son is the new Verstappen, I just have to follow the concept and it will work out.’

“Before Verstappen, everyone went to the cafeteria when it rained on the karting track. When Max became champion (in karting) for the first time, everyone noticed that when it rained, only one driver was out: that was Verstappen.

“Now it’s the other way around. When it rains, there’s no one in the cafeteria.”

Verstappen skipped the two junior categories of GP3 and GP2 (now Formula 3 and Formula 2) before making his debut in Red Bull’s junior team. At 17, he became the youngest driver in Formula 1 and the youngest winner the following season. He will turn 28 at the end of September and will likely end the year with his fourth consecutive world championship title.

However, he is a rare exception and difficult to imitate.

“People think they can achieve what Max did by copying him, but we are not looking for a new Verstappen,” said Marko. “We are looking for a new world champion. We were not looking for that when (Sebastian) Vettel left us for a new Vettel. We saw Max and I immediately thought: ‘This is a guy we want to work with.’

“We have done the math every year and at least 1,000 young drivers start in karting. If you’re lucky, on average one will go into Formula 1. Only if you’re lucky. So you can see that the selection is tough, very tough. The chances of making it are relatively slim.”

Despite the difficult starting position, Red Bull was the most successful company when it came to promoting young talents to F1. Verstappen followed in the footsteps of Vettel, who climbed the pyramid as a junior driver for Red Bull and won four titles in a row with the team. In the current starting line-up Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz And Pierre Gasly are all race-winning talents who owe their rise to the program with which Marko is so closely associated.

Marko explained the basic criteria for signing a young rider: “We want a rider who should be able to win a Grand Prix. Winning a Grand Prix is ​​the goal, what we are looking for. (To) win a World Championship, so many factors have to come together.”

Finding academy talent

The game has changed significantly since Marko and Red Bull started watching Verstappen and Vettel in their youth. Technological advances have given teams more options, but Marko still prefers the old-fashioned approach of trusting his instincts.

“The main difference is that you act more based on data these days,” he said. “In the past, you would watch the driver out on the track. Some people could tell the difference straight away, others couldn’t.”

“I stand out on the track and watch the drivers. There is a difference in how they react when they come into the first or second lap. I think you can tell immediately how well they control their car. From the data, you know that they are all learning something whether they do 20 or 40 laps because they are watching the data.

“But for me the most important thing is the immediate reaction when you first get in the car. It’s also important how you react in fast corners. A hairpin is a relatively easy thing, but in fast corners you see the differences.”

Another trend has changed the approach to finding new talent. F1 drivers have been getting younger recently; the average age of drivers this year is 27.2 years, a figure that is surpassed by the timeless pair Lewis Hamilton And Fernando AlonsoThis demographic change is also reflected further down the pyramid.

Red Bull’s two newest additions to the academy reflect this fact. Following the recent Red Bull Driver Search, the name of a three-day event at the Jerez circuit, the company welcomed 15-year-old Irishman Fionn Mclaughlin and 14-year-old Swede Scott Lindblom into its driver academy. These two stood out from a group of 10 drivers who were evaluated in Formula 4 cars over the three days.

Red Bull has been following this testing concept for years, but there is still no guarantee of long-term success.

“We see that people are getting younger and younger,” said Marko. “We have people who are fantastic at go-karting, world champions in go-karting, who were not successful in normal formula cars. Then things start to look up. Some are successful in Formula 4, win championships, then they move up to Formula 3 and are no longer competitive.”

“If you go through the formulas, there is a natural selection. Some can handle the different speeds and G-forces, others can’t. Some need two or three years in a category, which is definitely too long for our goal of finding a competitive F1 driver.”

There is an example of this that is closer to home. Academy driver Dennis Hauger, who won Formula 3 in 2021, has had three disappointing seasons in Formula 2 since then; in contrast, Hauger’s junior colleague at Red Bull, Isack Hadjar, is leading Formula 2 this year. However, Frenchman Hadjar may have to queue up if he wants a place with one of Red Bull’s teams soon – Liam Lawsonwho does not have a race seat in 2024 despite an impressive five-race effort in 2023, is still awaiting the company’s decision on his future.

“We always look to the future,” said Marko. “What will it be like in three years? Where will Ricciardo go? Where will Lawson go? Where will Hadjar be if he continues like this? If that’s the case, we have to find a place for him in Formula 1.”

Red Bull’s junior program experienced a pivotal moment in 2021 when the company signed Sergio Perez from Racing Point as a replacement Alex AlbonSince Ricciardo’s departure in 2018, the company has quickly rotated through Gasly and Albon and now found itself without any ready-made F1 talent in the starting blocks. Pérez’s arrival was portrayed as a major departure from company founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s philosophy of recruiting talent from within its own ranks wherever possible. But even Pérez has Red Bull roots if you trace his career far enough back.

“‘Checo’ (Pérez) is something we have known for a long time,” said Marko. “He was in Estoril looking for a driver … about 16 years ago. The fastest driver was Ricciardo, but in the long runs ‘Checo’ was also there. But in qualifying he was a bit off. … In 2021 we had several juniors who didn’t manage to be next to Max … we knew him, he was winning races, so we chose him.”

Ironically, both Pérez and Ricciardo made headlines this year because their respective futures at Red Bull were uncertain. Pérez received a surprising vote of confidence during the summer break, but his form has completely opened up this year’s Constructors’ Championship to him and he still seems to be on shaky ground. Ricciardo, who returned to the Red Bull program as a possible replacement for Pérez, has not impressed at RB this year.

Red Bull’s reluctance to promote its next best young talent, Yuki Tsunodahas reinforced the feeling that the company’s youth program is not what it once was. In this area, too, the game has changed: Red Bull is no longer alone. Most of its competitors now have similar programs, and they are currently making inroads in a big way.

Mercedes is expected to promote young racing driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who turns 18 on August 25, as Hamilton’s successor next year. George Russellwho was famously accepted into the Mercedes junior program after showing company boss Toto Wolff a PowerPoint presentation, joined the team on loan from Williams after several years of development. Ferrari academy driver Oliver Bearman impressed on his debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and will compete in a full rookie season at Haas in 2025. Ferrari has already retrained an academy driver, Charles Leclercinto an established race winner.

Not every team was so sensible in promoting its young talents. Alpine was notoriously hesitant about the future of Oscar Piastri when he was part of the program, he was snapped up by McLaren, who gave him a race seat straight away in 2023. Piastri became F1 race winner at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month. His teammate Lando Norris was signed by McLaren at a young age and was also promoted to a racing seat at an early age. He made his debut in 2019, when he was just 19.

Even though the competition is making progress in selecting young drivers, Marko still believes that Red Bull remains the best choice for up-and-coming talent.

“Almost every team has a junior program today. Some of them make ridiculous financial offers, for example, and we say: ‘No, we will not enter into such a commitment.’ Red Bull’s big advantage is that we have proven that we can bring young drivers into Formula 1. We have made two world champions out of our program. We are brave enough to take on young drivers.

“So it’s a difficult situation with other parties investing more money than we do, but as Mr Mateschitz always said when I discussed with him, we can’t have everyone. So Antonelli is a great talent and he’s not with us, he’s with Mercedes. It’s good when other teams bring young talent into the business too.”

With a completely changed landscape and more options than ever for young drivers, Red Bull does not seem willing to completely overhaul its recruitment strategy just to stay ahead.

“We will stick to our system. Our financial terms, the contracts,” said Marko. “Nowadays they have managers, consultants and lawyers. Our system works. We don’t change because your lawyer has to do something for his money. Our contract has been the same since the junior program started, it’s just adapted to social media stuff and all these legal things that you have to put in the contract, but the basics are the same.”