"It probably wasn't the wrong approach": Former Red Bull driver backs Helmut Marko's approach of managing young drivers

Former Red Bull driver Chrisitan Klien spoke about the way Dr. Helmut Marko, the team's advisor, is known to handle junior drivers in the team. Klien added that he feels the approach is the right one to take.

Klien had the opportunity to be a part of Red Bull after their takeover from Jaguar in 2005. At that point in time, the Australian spent a lot of time around Marko and his decisions made up a major part of his time in the team. He revealed that he had to share his cockpit with another driver, which was part of Marko's plan.

However, when asked by RacingNews365.com about the ways he is known to handle junior drivers, he replied that although Marko is a tough personality, he is also very straightforward. The junior drivers he picks turn out to be some of the best ones, and hence, the approach can't be too wrong.

"Helmut was a tough character, really a tough character. But he was also straightforward. You know exactly where you stand. That may be a bit of an Austrian mentality, because we are quite direct."

He added:

"But because of that you knew what to expect, with Helmut it was always clear. You had to perform and you didn't get much time to do that, so that's probably also why Red Bull consumed a lot of juniors. But if you look at what drivers ended up coming out of that, it probably wasn't the wrong approach."

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Helmut Marko's decisions at Red Bull can be tough for young drivers, mentions Klien

In recent years, especially after Max Verstappen's debut in Red Bull, the team hasn't seen many junior drivers join them. Although their sister team AlphaTauri counts for some, no young driver has joined their main, championship-winning squad.

However, Klien remarked that this isn't something that Dr. Helmut Marko would do intentionally, but rather just how Formula 1 works. He mentioned that young drivers who are willing to join the grid can find Marko's decision tough, but it's just because they're not mature enough.

"When you're young, you don't realise it's a good approach. If you work with Helmut when you're 15, or even when you're 20, you're not quite mature. That can make his decisions very hard and we drivers don't understand it all."

"In the end, that's how it works in Formula 1. Only the 20 best drivers can drive here and motorsport in general is just a hard sport. If you want to get to the top, then it's tough, but you learn a lot through it, you gain a lot of life experience."