"You f**ked that one right up": When Sebastian Vettel reminisced about Helmut Marko lashing out at him while he was 'in his underpants'

Former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel previously claimed that advisor Helmut Marko lashed out at him after the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session where he missed out on pole position to Lewis Hamilton. The 2013 season will arguably go down as one of the most dominant by a single driver as the German set multiple records that year.

Vettel won 13 of the 19 races, including nine in a row after the summer break, en route to a fourth successive F1 world championship. However, there were few chinks in the former Ferrari man's armor in the early part of the season, given he lost out on some races due to Mercedes's qualifying pace.

While appearing at the annual Autosport Awards in 2013, Sebastian Vettel was asked about the mid-season transition that led to his fourth title, especially the race in Hungary, where he finished in P3. He said:

"I got a big wake-up call in Hungary. I thought I did a decent job on Saturday, pole was a very close fight for position with Lewis. I think five or six hundred and I was happy with my lap in the final attempt in Q3. I got back to my room got changed and when I was in my underpants Helmut Marko opened the door. He said, 'You f**ked that one right up'.

"I said what exactly do you mean and he said, 'Turn five I've seen it you lost more than five hundred if you only copy the lap from Q2, you'll have pole'. People always think that Helmut and me, we're like best mates, and the example that I'm just giving you proves pretty much the opposite. I think he was never shy of giving me and probably never will be," he added (6:10).

Sebastian Vettel left Red Bull at the end of the 2014 season in a quest to bring the glory back to Ferrari but failed to do so. He ultimately retired at the end of the 2022 season with Aston Martin.

Lewis Hamilton called Sebastian Vettel the "best world champion" he knew

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton recently stated that his ex-rival Sebastian Vettel was the "best world champion" he knew given the dynamic the duo shared on and off the track.

In his final event at Petronas Malaysia, the seven-time F1 world champion reminisced about his title battles with Felipe Massa, Max Verstappen, and Nico Rosberg. He said:

"Seb is the best world champion that I know because he's far more than a driver. He's someone with real passion, he's empathetic and he cares for people. It doesn't matter how well he drives, he's so quick anyway, we had great races together. But I think for me, we had the best races together."

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel had two closely fought title battles in 2017 and 2018, both won by the former. The German retired from Formula 1 in 2022, ending 12th in his last season, when he drove for Aston Martin. His best performance that year was sixth-place finishes in Baku and Suzuka.