Marko delivers damning F1 driver market claim

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has delivered a damning verdict on the current state of play of F1's driver market.

Marko has long been a keen promoter of young talent, with Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon all currently on the grid after being given their F1 debuts by the Red Bull junior programme. Daniel Ricciardo started at HRT before being swiftly promoted. 

After some fallow years for the Red Bull programme, the likes of Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad are impressing in F2 and F3, whilst Red Bull/RB reserve Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings after his impressive cameo as a stand-in for Ricciardo last year.

Marko has again made clear he would love to promote a junior, with the veteran Austrian pointing towards the case of Ollie Bearman, the Ferrari protégé who will race for Haas full-time in 2025, as an example of what can be achieved.

"With Oliver Bearman, he was in the right place at the right time and will move up to Formula 1 next year," Marko wrote in his Speedweek column. 

"His race in the Ferrari [in Saudi Arabia], 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."

Marko then pointed an accusatory finger, adding: "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. 

"They block the way for the young drivers. The teams are also afraid of juniors. 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."

Evaluating Red Bull's juniors

The Red Bull junior stable is again stocked with plenty of drivers wanting a chance in F1 following a fallow few years in which it was forced to look outside its pool to replace the under-performing Alex Albon with Perez for '21.

Hadjar and Lindblad are the two drivers deemed next in line after Lawson.

"During the summer break, we will also analyse and evaluate the performance of the Red Bull juniors in more detail," Marko continued. 

"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. 

"We mustn't forget Ayumu Iwasa either, who is currently in second place in the Super Formula in Japan."