Daniel Ricciardo almost afraid to take Helmut Marko's calls

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo almost afraid to take Helmut Marko's calls

The Austrian ran a tight ship.

Martin Macdonald

Saturday 1 June 2019 13:31

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Daniel Ricciardo has revealed what it was like working under Dr Helmut Marko for Red Bull, and says that the Austrian was so firm and no-nonsense about his approach that sometimes he thought about not even answering the phone to his boss!

Ricciardo was part of the Red Bull family as a junior driver and then in F1 for over a decade, and so grew as a competitor and as a person under the helm of Marko, know is known to be fairly abrasive in his opinions.

When Marko’s name popped up on Ricciardo’s phone, he knew he was in for a tough chat...if he answered.

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"He was always very passionate," said the Renault driver on Nico Rosberg’s Beyond Victory podcast.

“He cared and because he cared so much he was also very hard and firm.

"Every time I finished a conversation with him on the phone, I knew where I stood and what he expected so it certainly made me grow up quick. I respect him a lot for that.

"It wasn't always nice seeing his name pop up. 'Do I really want to answer it?'

"But you're like if I don't answer it now I'm just going to have to do it later. Sometimes you just have to listen and nod and suck it up."

Ricciardo almost lost his chance with Red Bull in 2010 as he was forced to miss his first scheduled Formula Renault 3.5 test after fracturing his arm while mountain biking.

"About two weeks before the test - and we only had two tests, so it was limited - basically I had a crash on my mountain bike and fractured my wrist," he revealed.

"I knew I couldn't do the first test. I could hardly move my hand, but I flew to Jerez in Spain to try and show that I was going to at least try.

"I did the out-lap and came straight back to the pits. I just said 'sorry guys, I can't'. Then my phone rings.

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"Helmut: 'What happened?' and I was like 'I really tried, I couldn't, I'm so sorry but I'll let it heal and don't worry I'll be ready for the first race'."

Marko, obviously, was not impressed.

"I knew it was going to be tough because the next words were, a lot of silence, then 'you're an idiot' and he hung up," the Australian continued.

"I did the next test at Magny-Cours, it was probably about 10 days later and I remember all the hairpins, I couldn't get enough rotation with my wrist so I was just like one-handed.

"I got pole in the first race so that was alright.”