The two sides of Red Bull advisor Marko: 'He does that to your face'
Interview
- Ludo van Denderen
Tim Tramnitz is also one of the talents in the Red Bull Junior Team next season. So like no other, the German (20) can explain what it is like to work under Helmut Marko, the driving force behind the Austrian's young talent development.
Famous are the stories about how Helmut Marko called Max Verstappen out of bed before dawn, if the Red Bull Racing advisor had something to say or comment on one of the Dutchman's races. When the phone rang, Verstappen would regularly think: 'Just let it ring, I'll call back later'.
Tim Tramnitz, one of the talents from the Red Bull Junior Team, still answers the phone on time when Marko calls him. The German, who competes in Formula 3, has a good relationship with Marko, as he replied to a question asked by GPblog. About the Austrian, Tramnitz says: "I feel like there are two sides you can always see. The side you see on TV and then of course, it's a bit different when you speak to him."
"To me he is quite calm, but if I don't do a good job, he tells me that I have to improve these areas. So, he's very honest with me but I feel like he was always helping me throughout my career. Someone [who] was like very obvious, honest to me and was, just saying the truth even if I did a bad job. Just telling it to my face."
Tramnitz happy with how Marko works
Tramnitz gives an example of the positive influence Marko has on him. "Example actually last year, before the qualifying at Red Bull Ring, I had a meeting with him and he told me, to improve the quali [performance] and to be more consistent there.
"I think after that, I had my best quali of the year. So I feel like he can always kind of talk to me like this, but it's a very calm and good atmosphere," the German driver from MP Motorsport concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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