Marko clear: 'Otherwise racing is not the right business for you'

Helmut Marko has been involved with Red Bull Racing since its inception. The formation's advisor experienced no less than four world titles with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013, while Max Verstappen's tally now stands at two world championships won. In conversation with Car and Driver Marko names the key to success.

The Austrian is one of Red Bull's driving forces. Last season, for instance, the racing stable experienced a tough battle with Mercedes, with Marko providing behind-the-scenes peace of mind for Christian Horner and Max Verstappen.

Whereas it has also been a challenge for Marko in recent years to perform with Red Bull, he almost always remained calm. "We make championships possible. Of course there is a lot of pressure. But if you can't handle the pressure, racing is not the right business for you," he explained.

Marko sets high bar at Red Bull

Marko stresses in the interview that it was important for him to integrate a top-class sports mentality at Red Bull from the start, so that performance would go up. Indeed, he says the level of expectations was very low in 2005 when the project started.

"When Red Bull decided to enter Formula 1, people thought we were just a nice company that threw bigger parties than others. My focus was to be as competitive as possible. I am honest about what we expect and in the end it worked."