Marko: "Niki Lauda is not to be forgotten and always will be"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
As an advisor to Mercedes, Niki Lauda was a competitor of Helmut Marko, who plays the same role at Red Bull Racing. Outside Formula 1, however, the two were good friends and now a year after Lauda's death, Marko looks back on the loss of his friend with gloomy feelings.
Heavy blow
Helmut Marko had a hard time when he was told last year that Lauda had died. It was a "heavy blow" for the Austrian, "I couldn't sleep all night." Marko still misses Lauda, especially because they always had breakfast together during race weekends and talked about everything.
"We would have enough to talk about", says Marko to Sport24, "Especially in these difficult times with corona or about the important decisions in Formula 1 with the budgetcap and so on. Niki always had a clear opinion about things and good solutions. It is sad and hard to believe that he is no longer there".
Last year the Grand Prix of Monaco, as well as the Grand Prix of Austria, was in honor of Niki Lauda. Now a year later that will be no different in Spielberg when the season starts. "He will also be present this year. Niki is not to be forgotten and always will be there. At least, for the generation that has worked with him and experienced him. For the Mercedes people he was a leading figure."