F1: ‘Sebastian Vettel has no future at Ferrari’, says Helmut Marko

Marko has his say on Vettel future

Red Bull Racing chief consultant Helmut Marko believes that Sebastian Vettel’s future at Ferrari is bleak after the Scuderia “sacrificed” the German driver at the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix.

After starting third Vettel took an early lead at the Sochi Autodrom. However, he defied team orders to let team-mate Charles Leclerc past and ended up retiring from the race because of engine failure.

Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas went on to secure a one-two for Mercedes with Leclerc finishing in third place.

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Vettel is a four-time world champion from his Red Bull days, but the 32-year-old has failed to win a title since switching to Ferrari in 2015.

When asked about Vettel’s situation at Ferrari, Red Bull’s Marko told Auto Bild: “Ferrari have failed to win the race despite having the fastest car.

“Although Sebastian was the faster man, they sacrificed him. For me, Vettel has no future at Ferrari.”

Jos Verstappen: it’s very frustrating

Max Verstappen’s father Jos has bemoaned Red Bull’s lack of progress since returning from the summer break, F1i.com reports.

In the past four races Ferrari and Mercedes have dominated the front of the grid and shut out Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Alexander Albon from regular podium places.

Verstappen, 22, won in Austria and Germany earlier this season, but since a second place in Hungary on 4 August he failed to finish in Belgium, was eighth in Italy, third in Singapore and fourth last weekend in Russia.

Jos Verstappen told Ziggo Sport: “We should have been closer, but that is more difficult than we thought. It is very frustrating.

“In the last races before the summer break it went really well, but after the summer break we did not progress while the other teams did.

“Max cannot change that, we depend on the team, the car is a bit behind, the engine is a bit behind, more work has to be done on this combination if we want to challenge for the world title next year.”

Red Bull want ‘strong second driver’

If Red Bull are to challenge for the two F1 championships in 2020 they will need a “strong second driver” alongside Max Verstappen. That’s the opinion of Helmut Marko when asked about Red Bull’s chances of a title tilt next year.

He recently said that current Red Bull driver Alexander Albon and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly are the only candidates to partner Verstappen in 2020.

However, GrandPX reports that Gasly’s Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat “might be back in the running” to return to the senior team next year.

“Kvyat is having a good season,” said Marko. “Unfortunately he has not been lucky from a technical point of view, but he is showing what we expect of him. We know what he is capable of.

“He has grown up, ceasing to be too emotional. There is no doubt that he is progressing.”

On Red Bull’s 2020 championship hopes, Marko added: “The task for next season is to get the constructors’ championship again, so we are looking for a strong second driver.”