Red Bull’s Helmut Marko should “worry more about commenting on his own drivers”, believes ex-F1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle.

That verdict came after Marko set about rating the F1 2025 rookies, with Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto not coming out of that in good shape.

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During an appearance on Red Bull’s in-house station Servus TV, the team’s senior advisor Marko had declared “he is a ‘C” in reference to Alpine’s Jack Doohan – a former Red Bull junior – while adding: “I don’t think he will complete the season,” in reference to continued speculation over his future and that of lurking Alpine reserve Franco Colapinto.

Bortoleto meanwhile – who won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in back-to-back seasons to catch Sauber’s attention – was given a ‘B’ by Marko, who claimed the Brazilian racer and protégé of two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso lacks “pure speed”.

Bortoleto challenged that theory by outqualifying his respected veteran team-mate Nico Hulkenberg on debut, and Brundle senses we could be seeing a “star” in the making.

“He seems very mature, and he’s coming off the back of winning F3 and F2,” Brundle said of Bortoleto on Sky F1.

“We know there’s a lot of great drivers that have done that, like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, for example.

“I think he’s going to be quite a star of the future, this young Brazilian, and he’s shown well straight away.”

At that point, it was put to Brundle that this was ‘not bad for a B-class driver, as Dr. Helmut Marko was saying.’

“Yeah, exactly,” Brundle replied, before passing on some advice to the head of Red Bull’s driver programme.

“I think that Helmut Marko needs to worry more about commenting on his own drivers than other people’s,” said Brundle.

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Marko did that to some effect on Grand Prix Sunday in Melbourne, after their rookie Isack Hadjar crashed out on the formation lap in his debut race with VCARB, the Red Bull junior squad.

Hadjar was the first to be caught out by the treacherous, greasy Albert Park circuit after earlier rain, and was an emotional wreck in the immediate aftermath, with Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony rushing over to console him in the paddock.

But Marko had no sympathy for Hadjar, telling ORF that the Frenchman “put on a tearful show” that was “a bit embarrassing”.

Elsewhere, Doohan spun out on the opening lap, while Bortoleto also found the wall as the rain returned later in the race, Red Bull debutant Liam Lawson also crashing out at that stage.

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