Red Bull chief sparked 'heated moments' between F1 stars after sack threat made

09 January 2024 , 18:02

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Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko oversees the the development of their young drivers (Image: Getty Images)

Daniil Kvyat has claimed pressure from Helmut Marko caused arguments with team-mate Carlos Sainz during their Toro Rosso racing days.

The Russian racer was a Red Bull junior driver and earned his first seat in Formula 1 with the energy drinks giant's second team. But it wasn't long before he was promoted to the main squad after Sebastian Vettel left to join Ferrari.

Kvyat's time with Red Bull Racing was short, though, as he was replaced by a young starlet named Max Verstappen and sent back to Toro Rosso. This time, he was partnered with Sainz who was beginning his own F1 journey.

But that was not the first time they had shared a garage. Indeed, both were placed by Red Bull in the same team in the Formula BMW Europe series in 2010, Kvyat earning his spot by testing well after impressing with wins in other junior competitions.

"I went to Varano in Italy for a test in a Formula BMW. It was with Carlos Sainz and a more experienced driver, Felipe Nasr, so there was a reference for us," the Russian told the official F1 website. "Helmut Marko was very happy with the test and said, 'If this is really your first time then it's very good'.

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"We signed the contract after that when me and my father came to the Grand Prix in Valencia. Helmut said, 'Look, I appreciate your results, I've heard a lot of good things, here's a contract, read it overnight and come back to me if you want to take it or leave it'. At that point, what do you do? You just accept whatever terms are there, as many years as there are, and you sign it."

And so he had a foot in the door with Red Bull - but was quickly fearful that it would be slammed in his face again. Kyvat went on to describe how he was pitted against Sainz by Marko who threatened him with the sack, which led to tension between the two future F1 racers as they fought to keep their places in the programme.

The Russian, now 29, added: "Especially at the beginning, it was tough. I got a call from Helmut - he was like, 'You know what, if you don't improve next race, I think we're done here'. So I was like, 'Wow, Okay'. I was under a lot of pressure already. I had to go to Hockenheim and be ahead of Carlos, Helmut told me.

"I said, 'Okay, but please change the car to my liking', because the set-up was the set-up and we just ran it. We did it and it worked very well, I remember I out-qualified Carlos and was ahead in the races. I think that's what Helmut really liked about me, because he thought, 'Okay, if I can basically tell him he's going to be fired and he can do this job, then it's good'.

"Today, me and Carlos are really good friends, but when we were team-mates there were some heated moments. We travelled a lot together, we had some contact on the track and sometimes even our fathers had to intervene and say, 'Hey, guys, calm down!'"

Daniel Moxon