F1 | Helmut Marko and a 2019 full of obsession with Ferrari

Well we should also ask him to stop. Helmut Marko, eminence grise of Red Bull motorsport, has dedicated the last year to thinking about Ferrari, talking almost more about the Ferrari than about his Red Bull, criticizing it whenever he could, giving unsolicited opinions, making annoying allusions to the regularity of the Maranello single-seater .

An intense year of passion for Marko against Ferrari, with the influential Austrian manager who resembles those disappointed lovers who lash out at those who rejected them. Has Marko ever thought of wearing red? Perhaps when he was a young driver with great hopes, we don't believe in his successful career as a manager.

The good Helmut is a frank and direct character, certainly not likeable, but beyond the colors he defends, his real bitterness towards the Cavallino is notable. In recent months Marko has embodied the perfect role of the antagonist, the rival par excellence, having chosen Ferrari as his favorite target. Vettel and irregularities are his favorite topics. Especially where Seb is concerned, the Austrian demonstrates a kind of love-hate attitude. Vettel is the poor friend who is the victim of the Ferrari universe, but he enjoys it like crazy when it goes badly, of course.

The Austrian inaugurates his Ferrari year in Australia, when in a burst of enthusiasm he states: “We kept our gap from Mercedes intact, Ferrari appeared to be in difficulty, they have serious problems but I don't want to talk about who is behind." At the end of the year the Red team will be almost 100 points ahead of Red Bull, but let's move on.

One of the favorite topics becomes Sebastian Vettel. In July: "compared to the other great drivers who have moved to Ferrari, he is unable to give his best if he doesn't feel the unconditional support of the team. In Red Bull it was like this, in Ferrari probably not. The mistakes he is making are made when he is not sure of his situation. He should change team, but there are no valid options for 2020."

Then after the spat between the Sochi Ferrari drivers Helmut is peremptory: “Vettel has no future at Ferrari." The latest statements are even more incisive: “Vettel pays for too much politics at Ferrari, he is not strong politically and was taken aback by Leclerc's explosion."

But the Austrian manger's workhorse is the Rossa's engine. The petrol case, the multiple allegations regarding the bypassing of the flow meter, the suspicions, all elements that gave Marko the opportunity to launch his attacks against Maranello. He wants to see Ferrari confessed, punished, he considered the fine imposed on it in Abu Dhabi laughable. With the world championship over, he continues to call for further controls, almost accusing the FIA ​​of connivance, and then ends his year by promising heated and formal protests in 2020.

From all this it can be seen that the Austrian super consultant really has a poisonous tooth towards Binotto and co. He went from sensations to certainty. It is worth underlining the excessive attention to the fate of his former pupil Vettel, the one who in 2014 chose to change scenery and embrace Ferrari. One more reason to hate the Italian team, to make it your great sworn enemy, a fixed thought, an obsession. Yet the one who disturbs the sleep of a Red Bull manager should be Mercedes, which dominates far and wide, not Ferrari which wins the same number of GPs. But with about ninety points more in the final standings. And they must really hurt…

Antonino Rendina

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