Perez no 'shame' for Red Bull training: 'No one can match us'

By signing Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing chooses, for the first time in a long time, a driver who does not come from its own training. However, according to Helmut Marko this is not a problem at all, because the team simply has to perform.

Outside your own training

Red Bull Racing made it clear from the start in Formula 1 that it had an eye for talent. Many of the guys in its own programme were given a chance and only David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Robert Doornbos were taken from outside their junior programme in the early years. Now it's Perez, but he's still under pressure from his own talents.

''We have a one-year contract with Perez, so we'll see how that fits and how he performs. We looked at him a long time ago in Estoril in a test with Daniel Ricciardo. In the longrun they were just as fast, but in qualifying Perez was a bit slower. That was just before he became Ferrari-junior," Marko said to Motorsport-total.com.

Nobody gets to Red Bull

''Nor is it a disgrace at all that we have not brought two new drivers into Formula 1 for the first time since 2010. We do have one with Yuki Tsunoda. So we have another new junior, but not two this time,'' says the Austrian, who also points to the talent that is coming.

''We don't have anyone in Red Bull Racing without compromising our goal in the World Championship. We now have two top guys with Juri Vips and Liam Lawson and also Jehan Daruvala, who won the last F2 race. We also have a strong American in Formula 3 in 2021. Nobody can match our successes when it comes to training talents,'' concludes Marko.