Liam Lawson explains Helmut Marko’s ruthless approach: “If you don’t perform well, you’re in trouble”. Liam Lawson explained more about the behind-the-scenes of Helmut Marko's ruthless approach.

The environment within the Red Bull world is known for being ruthless, like a meat grinder. Young drivers come and go, and as soon as you’re not performing, the contract gets cut right in front of you (except for Sergio Perez, for some strange reason). Of course, Formula 1 isn’t a place for friendships and pats on the back: there are only 20 spots for the best people, and no one can afford to slack off. In particular, Helmut Marko’s criticisms and harsh words towards his drivers often make the headlines, and Liam Lawson explained more about the behind-the-scenes of this ruthless approach.

“The hardest part of being in this system is when you’re very young. In my case, I was sixteen or seventeen. You go from being just a junior team driver to having Red Bull’s eyes on you, with Helmut Marko calling and putting pressure on you. It would even happen at six in the morning; he would tell you that you had to do better the following week, or you were in trouble. You could only win, otherwise, he would tell you that you had no future with the team,” explained the new VCARB driver on the F1 Nation podcast. However, in hindsight, the young driver is almost grateful for this seriousness. “It was a ruthless approach, but I’m glad I went through it because now that I’m in Formula 1, I’m used to the pressure. Last year, I wouldn’t have been able to come in at the last minute and perform if I hadn’t had Marko breathing down my neck in the past.” – he pointed out.

One of the podcast hosts, Damon Hill, also defended Helmut Marko’s approach: “I think there are positive aspects because it doesn’t make sense to sugarcoat problems when mistakes are made. You have to keep people on their toes, just like in the real world, and it’s worse to hear later that something wasn’t good when you thought you were doing the right thing. I always received criticism from Patric [Head, Williams’ technical director, ed.] and from my father [Graham Hill]. In this world, you always have to be strict with yourself, using a stick-and-carrot scenario to find motivation.” – the former Formula 1 world champion concluded.