Red Bull, Helmut Marko snubs Ferrari but surprises on Lewis Hamilton

Helmut Marko’s prediction for the next F1 championship

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko spoke to German magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport.’ The former Formula 1 driver, among others, snubbed Ferrari’s competition for the title up for grabs next season, indulging in an unexpected compliment for Mercedes, one of the Austrian team’s bitterest rivals, and especially seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Indeed, the 1971 winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans pointed out that the British will be Red Bull’s top contenders for the 2023 world championship, especially thanks to the Stevenage native: “Who do I fear most in 2023 between Mercedes and Ferrari? Mercedes, definitely. At the team level they are a team that always has the same men with a track record of success in key roles and then they have Hamilton. In 2022 he may have had a few lapses, but he remains a very special driver and his lap times on several occasions have proven that again. Mercedes has a simply better package than Ferrari.”

It was Sebastian Vettel who was the first driver to win a world championship with Red Bull. The German put everyone in line for four years in a row, from 2010 to 2013. The Austrian stable returned to success in 2021 thanks to Dutchman Max Verstappen, with the son of art repeating the following year. If there was a battle to the last in 2021, that was not the case in 2022.