He gave a lot to talk about more than ten years ago the day the news broke. The day the bombing went off. The day in which Lewis Hamilton left McLaren to set course to mercedes. Yes, in 2012. When the silvers barely added a victory while he, with those from Woking, fought for the World Cup. Risky. Very risky. And also a hit.
One that they did not have in Red Bull. Because it was they, or rather it was Helmut Marko, who spoke with Niki Lauda to recommend the signing of the 2008 World Cup winner at that time. Because in six years with McLaren he achieved a title. A ‘single title’.
And it is that in Mercedes, in ten years, add six. Something Helmut Marko couldn’t count on.
“It was not foreseeable”
“We think that, for us, Hamilton it would be less of a threat in Mercedes than in McLaren”, affirms the Red Bull man in ‘Sport Bild’.
And he insists: “Looking back, it was a complete error of judgment. It wasn’t predictable.”
“With what I now know I wouldn’t do it again” judgment.
No wonder I wouldn’t do it again. With him, Mercedes advanced until being an unbeatable machine from 2014 to 2021, when Verstappen claimed Red Bull’s first title since 2013 with Vettel.
Meanwhile, McLaren barely has a couple of victories in F1 and went through a complete ‘via crucis’ for its union with Honda.
