Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has accused some unnamed drivers of “stagnating” and “blocking” the next generation names from progressing through to Formula 1.
The current season marked the first time in the sport that the grid has remained unchanged from the previous term as all the 10 teams elected to retain their pairings.
Marko has advocated upcoming prospects being ushered through into the top flight since being appointed to lead Red Bull’s Driver Development Programme in 1999.
The Austrian helped guide Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen into F1 champions and also turned Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly into race winners.
However, teams becoming more risk-averse with their F1 line-ups has prompted Marko to slam some drivers who he perceives aren’t preserving their places on merit.
“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,” Marko wrote in his Speedweek column.
“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.”
The announcement earlier this month that Ferrari prospect Oliver Bearman will graduate to a full-time drive with Haas guarantees there will be a rookie next season.
Marko is convinced the Briton’s standout appearance in Saudi Arabia when he deputised for the sidelined Carlos Sainz back in March secured him his coveted shot.
“With Oliver Bearman, he was in the right place at the right time and will move up to Formula 1 next year,” Marko said.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s illustrious programme has experienced a drought in recent times as Yuki Tsunoda in 2021 was the last driver to be promoted to its sister team.
Gasly and Alex Albon’s struggles with the parent Red Bull operation led to Sergio Perez being drafted in from the outside, while Ricciardo, 35, partners Tsunoda at RB.
However, Marko has picked out Isack Hadjar, who heads the Formula 2 standings, and Formula 3 title hopeful Arvid Lindblad as two talents who could be next in line.
“During the summer break, we will also analyse and evaluate the performance of the Red Bull juniors in more detail,” he commented.
“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.”
You mean like Perez