The weeks between the end of the European season and the start of the long flyaway slog to the finale are usually quiet ones for Formula 1 as it mentally prepares itself to go hard with barely two months left on the clock.
But that’s not always so for those who aren’t exactly at the coalface.
While Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko is a constant paddock presence, his status as an employee of the brand, not either of its teams, elevates him above the usual fray — or gives him a platform to create some fray of his own.
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Equipped with what sometimes appears to be a direct link to the Red Bull-owned ServusTV station, Marko has freely ventilated his thoughts for years, particularly about Red Bull-backed driver, especially when they’re not performing as expected.
Sometimes it’s specifically targeted to get a rise out of the driver. Other times it’s pure unfiltered commentary.
This week, however, he’s been caught out making some particularly disparaging commentary about Sergio Pérez, for whom the rumour mill is swirling rapidly about his 2024 prospects.
MARKO ISSUES APOLOGY FOR ‘OFFENSIVE’ PÉREZ COMMENTARY
Sergio Pérez has been no stranger to Helmut Marko’s incessant needling this season, but the Austrian motorsport adviser crossed a line with his criticisms following the Italian Grand Prix.
Marko has regularly compared Pérez unfavourably with teammate Max Verstappen as the Mexican endured his difficult mid-year form slump, including suggestions he may not see out his 2025 contract if he can’t lift his results.
Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner has often had to walk back Marko’s commentary for contradicting the team’s official position on matters, particularly its driver line-up.
PIT TALK PODCAST: Sergio Pérez appears to have admitted for the first time that he could be out of a job as soon as next season, with Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo potentially circling his seat — and with Kiwi Liam Lawson set for the sternest test yet of his F1 mettle.
But the famously uninhibited Austrian former driver took things a step too far following Pérez’s drive from fifth to second at the Italian Grand Prix by pinning his struggles on his ethnicity.
“We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form,” Marko told Red Bull-owned Austrian broadcaster ServusTV. “He is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max is or as Sebastian [Vettel].”
Pérez is from Mexico, which is in North America.
He later doubled down in an interview with Austrian broadcaster Oe24.
“It wasn’t meant that way,” he said. “I meant that a Mexican has a different mentality than a German or a Dutchman. But who knows, maybe it’s controlled.”
His comments received significant backlash online, including from the Mexico City Grand Prix, which called for “steps [to be] taken to prevent this and that apologies are made when necessary”.
“Inappropriate comments have no place in any area, including sport,” event organisers said in a statement.
“We invite everyone to build a more respectful and united community in Formula 1 by promoting healthy competition both on and off the track.“
Marko eventually relented, releasing a written apology via the ServusTV website.
“I would like to apologise for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity,” he said.
“I was trying to make a point that Checo has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage.”
Marko is in his advisory role in part because of his close relationship with late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. With his gaffes piling up and without the explicit backing of the boss, it’ll be interesting to see whether an apology will be the end of the matter.
VETTEL DENIES COMEBACK ON THE CARDS
When he hasn’t been sledging Sergio Pérez, Helmut Marko has been stirring up four-time champion Sebastian Vettel about his potential to return to F1.
Vettel retired from Formula 1 at the end of last season after two understated years with what was then the uncompetitive Aston Martin.
Originally a Red Bull-backed driver, Vettel has reconnected with the Austrian drinks brand in retirement, including for a demonstration run at the Nürburgring last week, in which he got behind the wheel of his 2011 title-winning RB7 car.
As part of his mission to make motorsport more environmentally sustainable, the car was powered by so-called e-fuels, which are carbon neutral.
Combined with some F1 paddock appearances this year, Marko has been moved to suggest Vettel could be sizing up an F1 comeback.
“I think Sebastian feels somehow without a specific task at the moment, doesn’t know exactly what he should do,” he told favoured outlet ServusTV. “He has to make a decision somewhere.
“I think the driver situation is not over for him yet.”
While Vettel didn’t deny he had plans to work in the F1 sphere, he told Der Westen that revisiting the sport was more about furthering his ambitions to draw attention to climate change rather than resurrecting his career.
“On the one hand, everything that resonates with nostalgia. But on the other hand, there is also the possibility of making the whole thing a little more responsible with e-fuels and Race without Trace,” he said, referencing the name of his environmental campaign.
“It’s important to me to show that everyone can have fun but that you at least try to think about alternatives.
“If we care so much about our sport, then we should strive to preserve it.”
Vettel hinted that he would reappear in the paddock at the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend to further his F1-related projects.
MERCEDES OPTIMISTIC FOR SINGAPORE BOUNCE-BACK
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin is hopeful this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix will be kinder to his team after a difficult weekend well off the podium pace in Italy.
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth in Monza, with the former more than 11 seconds adrift of the Ferrari cars battling for the final spot on the rostrum.
Neither driver looked likely to challenge for a top-three finish, with the W14 struggling for aerodynamic efficiency at the low-downforce Monza circuit.
But the high-downforce demands of the Singapore street track are worlds away from that, which has Shovlin dreaming of a stronger weekend.
“There is a reason to think that the car will work better, and that is because Singapore is a maximum-downforce circuit,” Shovlin said. “At the high-downforce tracks — like at Barcelona, Budapest and even Zandvoort — the car was working well.
“We’re hoping to be able to be a bit quicker there and get back to a position where we can challenge for podiums.”
Hamilton, who was a pole contender at Singapore last year before a chaotic wet-dry race saw him finish down the order, said the worst of the season was likely behind Mercedes with eight races to go.
“I feel like [Monza] might be the worst one for us,” Hamilton said, per Autosport. “Singapore is all high downforce, and when we put our high downforce wing on we generally are a little bit better — not as bad as here. I hope I‘m right.”
Hamilton is only six points behind Fernando Alonso in the battle for third in the drivers championship, while Mercedes is almost 50 points clear of Ferrari on the constructors table.