Mercedes ought to have taken a risk and promoted young prodigy Pascal Wehrlein from Manor, according to Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.
The Silver Arrows confirmed the signing of Valtteri Bottas from Williams earlier this week, having overlooked reserve driver Wehrlein in their search for Nico Rosberg’s successor.
Yet Marko, the architect of Max Verstappen’s successful step-up from Toro Rosso, claims Wehrlein represented a better option for the Brackley outfit.
“For us, we would have done differently, we would have trained a junior,” he told motorsport-magazin.com. “No risk, no fun.”
Red Bull have long maintained a policy of promoting the most exciting youngsters from junior team Toro Rosso, a philosophy which has seen the likes of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne axed in recent years.
Their ruthlessness, however, appears to have paid off, with the strong pairing of Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo set to lead the Bulls’ title change in 2017.
With the charismatic Ricciardo pitted against the feisty Verstappen, Marko has acknowledged the potential for the internal strife but insists team orders are not an option.
“This danger is quite real,” he admitted. “But it does not change our racing philosophy or enthusiasm in any way. With us, there are no team orders. We are more racers than that.”
