17/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Though he doesn't name names, Helmut Marko criticises those "stagnant" drivers preventing new talent entering F1.
This year's season opening Bahrain Grand Prix featured the same 20 drivers who lined up on the grid in Abu Dhabi a few month earlier, as the sport witnessed one of those rare occasions when there wasn't the 'traditional' F1 version of musical chairs.
Of course, before a wheel had even turned in anger we became aware that 2025 was going to be slightly different, what with Lewis Hamilton announcing his decision to join Ferrari.
Since then the announcements have come thick and fast, with only the second seats at Mercedes, Alpine, Stake, Haas and Williams to be confirmed, though there is every likelihood that should Sergio Perez fail to raise his game we could yet see some further changes.
While Oliver Bearman looks likely to be the only rookie on the 2025 grid, the names being linked to the various vacancies are those of existing drivers like Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Guanyu Zhou, though Daniel Ricciardo has also yet to be confirmed.
Helmut Marko, who over the years has mentored numerous youngsters who went on to achieve great things, believes that it is time the sport looked beyond the old guard and started bringing in talent from the junior series.
"I can't name any names, but there are drivers in the field who stagnate and are a bit better or worse depending on their mood," he writes in Speedweek. "They block the way for the young drivers.
"The teams are also afraid of juniors," he adds, though Red Bull has always had the benefit of its junior team as a training ground for testing upcoming talent. "Of course, they make mistakes, but I'd rather someone makes mistakes and is a hope for the future than there is no more improvement."
Referring to Bearman, the Austrian, who brought the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon to F1 courtesy of the Red Bull Junior scheme, isn't entirely convinced.
"With Oliver Bearman, he was in the right place at the right time and will move up to Formula 1 next year," he writes. "His race in the Ferrari has shown him his F1 future, but if you were to look at his Formula 2 results, things would look a lot worse for him. But it's good that young people are coming into Formula 1, I'm absolutely in favour of that."
As for Red Bull's own crop of youngsters, he adds: "During the summer break, we will analyse and evaluate the performance of the Red Bull juniors in more detail. (Isack) Hadjar took the lead in the F2 standings with his victory in the feature at Silverstone, we mustn't forget that he was unlucky several times, there was the engine failure, then the reserve engine that didn't work and then the two fuel supply failures and twice he was also spun out through no fault of his own. Otherwise he would have been miles ahead in the championship.
"Lindblad shone in Formula 3, having stepped up directly from Formula 4 to Formula 3 as a rookie and winning both races. He is only 16 years old and we are delighted that you can now drive Formula 1 again at 17.
"But we're staying calm and continuing to produce good results with our juniors, who are now enjoying more priority again and are also allowed to drive Formula 1 cars.
"Isack did well in his most recent test, he never had the soft tyres on the car, but he showed strong performances. Isack and Arvid have extremely good qualities, they are super fast and have Formula 1 quality. Though we mustn't forget Ayumu Iwasa either, who is currently in second place in the Super Formula in Japan."