By Ian Lockwood
April 25 2007

In an interview for the motorsport section of www.redbull.com Helmut Marko takes stock after the first three F1 races: What went wrong, why there’s a feeling of optimism in the air and how the team can manage a turnaround in the break between now and the Grand Prix in Spain on May 13.

No championship points after three races. Is it part of your job as a motorsport consultant with over 40 years’ racing experience to hand out words of encouragement now?
 

Of course motivating the employees is also a part of my responsibilities. But it’s easy because I know exactly about the potential of the car and the imminent technical developments – and because there’s a feeling of optimism amongst the team.
 

Why hasn’t everything gone according to plan?
 

Unfortunately we were running so late with finishing the cars and the first tests – but that can’t happen in 2008.
 

But in Bahrain there was a marked upward trend. If the “defect devil” hadn’t played a role, both Red Bull pilots would have managed to get onto the point table by themselves. Wasn’t there enough attention paid to stability in Bahrain?
 

Red Bull’s philosophy is this: We’re not satisfied with twelfth place. We’d rather risk something; don’t like to bundle all our resources into the development of stability but are working on the advancement of speed at the same time – and that successfully in the end.
 

Before, you mentioned a feeling of optimism in the team. What made you particularly optimistic in Bahrain about the upcoming races?
 

The speed of the cars: Even when Webber was driving with an open fuel door, he was one of the fastest. And anyone who’s ever held their hand out the window when driving at autobahn speed can guess what effects that can have on such an aerodynamically optimised car.
 

How satisfied are you with the performances of Coulthard and Webber?
 

During the race both of them perform excellently; Mark also drove splendidly in the three qualifyings.
 

A new transmission and a complete aerodynamic relaunch are now supposed to increase speed. What’s planned exactly?
 

Apart from Spyker, all the teams are driving with continuously variable transmission. We have to re-tighten this by Barcelona, because it costs us time with every change of gear and acceleration. Apart from that the aerodynamics are being completely reworked – not because the ones used before were an aberration but because the second stage of expansion was always planned to happen around this time.
 

How is the car meant to be made not only faster but also more stable?
 

With the help of a totally new controlling system. From now on, every detected defect has to be reported to the factory within two hours. The senior designer has to offer a solution within a day. The defect has to be eliminated within three days. Without exception.
 

As a racing driver you set the distance record for the 24-hour Le Mans race, which is still valid today: 5335.313 kilometers. Were cars more reliable 36 years ago than today?
 

Definitely not. Back then, Porsche started with eight cars. Only two managed to get to the finish line. Another team car was supposed to push the Ferraris ahead, force errors, while we began the race in a relaxed way and taking care of the car. That’s how we won in 1971 …