In more than 20 years, Helmut Marko has accepted numerous talents into Red Bull’s development program. One of them: Karun Chandhok. The 41-year-old Indian took part in a total of eleven Formula 1 races for HRT and Lotus and now works as a TV expert for “Sky Sports F1” in England.
After the Austrian’s surprising exit from Red Bull, Chandhok looks back on his time in the youth program. “I was a Red Bull Junior, but decided to leave,” he remembers during the Formula 1 show on Sky Sports F1. “At the time I didn’t see a path to Toro Rosso.”
“So I oriented myself elsewhere and I was one of the few, I think, who were on good terms with Helmut and Christian [Horner] “Helmut gave me my first Formula 1 test and I was in the junior team for a while – that was hard.”
“I remember sitting on the plane, back then in GP2, now Formula 2, and trying to explain how my weekend went,” smiles the 41-year-old. “He then just said, ‘Well, that wasn’t very good,’ and hung up mid-sentence.”
Helmut Marko was tough, but “delivered results”
And that wasn’t the only situation that Chandhok remembers particularly well. “I remember Valencia: he came into the paddock, walked up to me and said: ’24, you’re an old man now. Get to work.’ And just walked away,” reports the former Formula 1 driver.
“Yes, he was tough, but you know what? He delivered results,” recalls the Indian, recalling the Austrian’s numerous success stories: Marko led the Red Bull talent factory from its inception and was instrumental in bringing a total of 16 drivers into Formula 1, including Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
“He was brave, while many in the paddock were rather cautious when he took Max Verstappen out of Formula 3. After just one season in Formula 3, with no other experience in racing cars, Max made the jump from karts via Formula 3 to Formula 1,” Chandhok reflects.
“It was a huge step that Helmut supported and decided on – and he made this decision alone,” says today’s Sky expert about one of Helmut Marko’s biggest decisions. “You have to give him credit for decisions like that. You have to give him credit for that.”