Helmut Marko is a fiery character in the F1 paddock. As astute as his driver scouting skill is, the drivers he signs for Red Bull are under immense pressure to perform or make way for the next prodigy. Daniel Ricciardo was one of the Milton Keynes outfit’s golden finds last decade. But the ‘Honey Badger’ is struggling to retain his VCARB seat against Liam Lawson, Marko’s latest finding. The New Zealand rookie has unsurprisingly revealed how he feared Marko in his early days at Red Bull, and how he made the taskmaster come around to like him.

Lawson has a conundrum on his hands. Marko signed him as Red Bull’s development and simulator driver around 2019. After 4 long years, he finally debuted by replacing an injured Daniel Ricciardo in 2023. But that was rather short-lived. In 2024, he remains RB’s reserve driver. Interestingly, his relationship with Helmut Marko has taken a turn for the positive.

“You spend years like speaking to him (Marko) but most of these conversations are just… because you are so scared,” Lawson said on The Red Flags Podcast. “Now it’s better after 5 years. I spoke about so many things (with Marko). I went back over the years and brought up stuff with the development because I’ve been in the simulator now with Red Bull for two and a half years. I brought up everything until he was like, ‘You need to stop now’.”

The 22-year-old then revealed that even though he didn’t like being dismissed, Marko’s view of him had actually changed. “I walked out pretty pissed off because it wasn’t getting me anywhere at that point,” he added. “But later I thought, maybe that conversation was the difference between them (Red Bull) calling somebody experienced and him going, ‘No, he’s ready’.”

Marko’s confidence in Lawson shows that the rookie still stands a chance at a 2025 VCARB seat. The 81-year-old, however, has dismissed any rumors of a mid-season swap for Lawson.

Helmut Marko shuts ‘nonsensical’ rumors of a Liam Lawson mid-season swap

Yuki Tsunoda has been consistently outperforming Daniel Ricciardo in 2024. Currently, the 24-year-old Japanese driver is P10 in the driver standings with 14 points compared to his Aussie teammate’s P14 and 5 points. Consequently, there were rumors which said that Liam Lawson would replace the struggling 34-year-old after the Miami GP. But Helmut Marko is having none of such random speculations.

“The rumours that Ricciardo will be replaced by Liam Lawson in Imola are nonsense,” Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek. “Liam’s manager from New Zealand was there, apparently, he has certain dreams, and they are announced via some media – also from New Zealand. Nothing is planned at all in Imola. But of course, we will look at it for the future.”

Though Marko has temporarily safeguarded Ricciardo’s VCARB seat, his performance needs desperate improvement. Liam Lawson’s ominous presence in the garage at every race isn’t doing him any favors as well. Could this be 2024’s first mid-season swap?