Helmut Marko: “Red Bull Racing must be wary of Hamilton from 2025”
In an interview with OE24, Helmut Marko explains that Lewis Hamilton could secure his eighth Formula 1 world championship title as early as 2025. However, to achieve this, he will need to improve in qualifying, and the SF-25 will have to be very competitive.
Helmut Marko, advisor and head of the young driver development program at Red Bull, answered questions from OE24 about his goals for 2025 and particularly about the threat posed by Lewis Hamilton.
While the Briton remains a competitor for Red Bull, Helmut Marko says he shares the collective enthusiasm surrounding the arrival of the seven-time world champion at Ferrari: « You have to get used to it, but it’s fascinating. »
Hamilton ready to win an 8th title as early as 2025?
If some think it’s too late for Hamilton, Marko believes on the contrary that he is still exceptionally competitive: « I would be cautious with this statement. If Hamilton is motivated, he can pick up where he left off in 2021. His comeback at the time was impressive. »
During his last race with Mercedes in 2024, Lewis Hamilton proved that he was still capable of performing miracles: starting in sixteenth position, he managed to reach just below the podium in Abu Dhabi.
But under certain conditions
Of course, the Scuderia Ferrari must provide the British driver with a high-performance single-seater. And while he is impressive in races, Lewis Hamilton faces some difficulties in qualifying. Especially against Charles Leclerc, who excels in this exercise. If number 44 has to overtake his teammate in every race, it gives Max Verstappen an additional advantage.
« However, the Ferrari will have to be competitive. Moreover, Hamilton will need to improve his qualifying, which has never been his strong point. If he loses two to three tenths against Leclerc, he will constantly have to climb a few places during the race, which will wear out his tires more… »
Recall that everything is relative: no matter the performance of Ferrari’s SF-25 itself, what matters are its performances compared to Red Bull Racing’s car. Helmut Marko has no choice but to wait.
To know how much of a threat Scuderia Ferrari will be to Red Bull Racing’s success, we will have to wait until after testing, when we see how well the Ferrari performs.
Marko is counting on his two drivers.
Helmut Marko relies on Max Verstappen, obviously. He counts on his talent to compensate for a potentially underperforming Red Bull Racing car: A tenth or two behind are manageable against Max. Max remains […] the best driver, assures Helmut Marko.
But he also counts on Liam Lawson: as we clearly saw last year, the second driver must now score points to give the team a chance to win the constructors’ championship. He must become a regular points collector and help Max when necessary, not just try. It is therefore very clear to Marko that he will not allow Lawson to perform as poorly as Sergio Pérez has recently.
Helmut Marko, in any case, does not lose sight of his goal for 2025: We want to secure our fifth consecutive world title, and all our focus is directed towards this objective. We did not achieve it with Vettel, he recalls.
