Former Crimson Bull motorsport adviser Dr Helmut Marko has branded the 2021 Formulation 1 season because the “hardest yr” throughout his time within the championship.
The 82-year-old left his function on the Milton Keynes outfit on the finish of 2025 after a 20-year stint. Having raced within the championship from 1971 to 1972 and founding RSM Marko in 1984, which later turned the Crimson Bull Junior Crew, the Austrian has been concerned within the sequence for over 5 a long time.
Reflecting on his profession throughout an interview with F1 Insider, Marko expanded on why he thought the 2021 season was his most difficult. That season ended with Max Verstappen claiming his first of 4 championship titles after an intense battle with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Though the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has gone down within the historical past books as probably the most controversial moments within the championship, Marko additionally pointed to different “poisonous” moments of the season.
“2021 was, when it comes to feelings, politics – when it comes to all the pieces, the hardest yr I’ve ever skilled in Formulation 1,” he mentioned. “Mercedes dominated.
“Immediately, Crimson Bull got here together with a comparatively younger driver and challenged all the pieces. There have been collisions on the monitor – the primary at Silverstone, the place Hamilton’s entrance wheel hit Max’s rear wheel, he flew off at over 300 km/h.
“However there was additionally a generally poisonous ambiance off the monitor. Political intrigue in every single place. Actually, actually powerful. Then the finale in Abu Dhabi, which went in our favour – partly as a result of we modified the tyres on the proper second. At Mercedes, the truth that they misplaced that World Championship remains to be deeply ingrained.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing RB16B
Photograph by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Pictures
Mercedes gained the constructors’ title, however Hamilton missed out on his eighth drivers’ championship title. The British driver was main the race with Verstappen following in second earlier than a crash by Nicholas Latifi introduced out the security automotive.Â
With the chequered flag closing in, Hamilton regarded set to assert the championship. However race director on the time, Michael Masi, ordered solely the lapped automobiles between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves with a purpose to have sufficient time to go racing once more; permitting all lapped automobiles on the grid to take action would have resulted within the race ending underneath security automotive situations.
After the security automotive returned to the storage, Verstappen, who was on brisker tyres, was capable of overtake Hamilton to take the title.
The choice from Masi was, and continues to be, a degree of debate amongst followers and the paddock.
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