Marko says Lauda triggered Red Bull exit F1 rumour

Dr Helmut Marko has pointed the finger at Niki Lauda, following recent rumours Red Bull was considering pulling out of formula one.

In the heat of the 'Multi-21' team orders controversy, media reports in Germany claimed a furious Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso team owner Dietrich Mateschitz had threatened to pull the plug on F1.

"Nonsense. There's nothing to it," Mateschitz's right hand man Marko said initially last month.

But it seems there was more to the story.

Marko has now told Germany's Auto Bild that the quit rumour was triggered by triple world champion and Mercedes chairman Lauda, following a telephone call between the famous Austrian and billionaire Mateschitz.

"They were discussing both the team order issue and the (Pirelli) tyres, because Dietrich has been so upset about the rapidly deteriorating tyres," said Marko.

"Niki has somehow taken it the wrong way and then told the press," he added.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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