“Red Bull contracts are stifling for drivers”. This is the thesis of Christijan Albers, a driver who was part of the F1 starting grid from 2005 to 2007 at the wheel of Minardi, Midland and Spyker. The youth program managed by Helmut Marko brought many profiles to the Circus, who then had to deal with a difficult ‘escape’ from the Red Bull orbit to start building a career without the honor and burden of having to do the accounts with the former Austrian driver. Carlos Sainz, for example, had to sweat to ‘escape’ from Toro Rosso by obtaining a loan in Renault only to be able to sign the first contract independently with McLaren, a springboard that brought the Spaniard to Ferrari starting in 2021.
Another driver who is experiencing the same ‘prison’ as Sainz is Pierre Gasly, a driver stuck in AlphaTauri although he has already amply demonstrated that he can be worth a seat of greater prestige that Red Bull did not want to grant him, confirming Sergio Perez for 2022 alongside. by Max Verstappen. “It is evident that Red Bull was not correct with Pierre Gasly – the words of Albers reached by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf – in the past it was like this for other riders, I am thinking for example of Daniil Kvyat, the week before on the podium and then brutally abandoned and relegated to Toro Rosso. To go somewhere else the riders have to get Helmut Marko’s ok, but it’s not easy ”.
The Red Bull world has found its own in Max Verstappen North Star and around the Dutchman the pressure towards those who share the garage with the 1997 class seems to have decreased: “Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez were not subjected to the oppressive pressure and criticism reserved for their predecessors – added Albers – surely the one who is ‘protected’ by the Marko method is Verstappen. Perhaps because at that point we would have to deal with Jos ”.