Marko reveals his CAREER-CHANGING Hamilton mistake

Red Bull legend Helmut Marko has admitted that he played a part in pushing Lewis Hamilton into Mercedes' arms in 2012.

The Austrian advisor told Niki Lauda that the then one-time world champion would be available for the 2013 season, hoping to push the Brit to a team where he would be less competitive and thus less of a threat to Red Bull.

That tactic worked for exactly one year, Hamilton finishing fourth in the drivers' standings in 2013 behind both Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso, before reeling off six titles in seven years – the other going to his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Marko confessed that, unsurprisingly, he would make a difference decision if given the opportunity to go back in time.

Not his finest decision

"I gave [Lauda] some information that Lewis would be available," Marko said. "Of course I was not being altruistic. At the time, we thought Lewis would be less of a threat to us at Mercedes than at McLaren, for whom he was driving at the time.

"In retrospect, that was a complete misjudgement, although at the time it was really not foreseeable. But with the knowledge I have today, I would definitely not do that again."

It took Red Bull until 2021 to win another (highly controversial) drivers' title once Hamilton and Mercedes' reign started, and until 2022 to reclaim the constructors' title.

However, they're finally looking like the dominant force Marko must've envisaged a decade ago, with three wins out of three in 2023 and a comfortable lead in the drivers' and constructors' standings.

READ MORE: Who is Helmut Marko? The genius behind Red Bull rise to power

Related

F1 Superstars

Incredible statistic puts Verstappen AHEAD of Hamilton record

• Yesterday 13:57

F1 Legends

Fierce rival calls Hamilton F1's GOAT in surprise admission

• Yesterday 12:57