Montoya Reveals Marko Sent Him to 'Energy Healer' Before Perez's Psychologist
Helmut Marko's tendency to send drivers for mental help is a pattern. Juan Pablo Montoya revealed Marko sent him to an 'energy healer' years before doing the same for Sergio Perez, highlighting the advisor's unconventional methods.
Sergio Perez's recent revelation about Helmut Marko sending him to a psychologist wasn't an isolated incident. Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has now disclosed a similar, albeit stranger, experience from his junior days, revealing a long-standing pattern in Marko's unconventional driver management approach that extends beyond just performance issues.
Why it matters:
This insight into Helmut Marko's methods sheds light on the intense psychological pressure and unique culture within the Red Bull driver program. It highlights the immense, almost paternalistic influence Marko wields over his drivers' careers, often resorting to unconventional solutions when he perceives a problem, whether it's on track or, in his view, in the driver's head.
The details:
- Montoya's 'Energy Healer': Speaking on his podcast, Montoya revealed that during his time with Marko's junior team, he was sent not to a psychologist, but to an 'energy healer'. Marko justified it by saying Montoya's "speed and my stupidity couldn't possibly coexist."
- The Gold-Tipped Wand: The healer used a wand with a gold tip to 'read energies', a session Montoya attended once or twice before it went nowhere. At the time, the $100 fee was a significant financial burden for the struggling junior driver.
- The Perez Parallel: This mirrors the experience of Sergio Perez, who was advised to see a psychologist early in his Red Bull career after a slow start. Perez was open to the idea, and Helmut Marko ultimately covered the reportedly substantial bill for the session.
- A Pattern of Behavior: The two incidents, years apart, suggest a recurring theme in Marko's playbook: when a driver's performance doesn't meet expectations, his first instinct can be to question their mental or psychological state and seek an external, often unorthodox, solution.
Between the lines:
These stories are more than just quirky anecdotes; they reveal a core philosophy at Red Bull. Marko often treats drivers as high-performance assets to be fine-tuned, and his methods blur the line between genuine mental health support and an attempt to 'optimize' a driver's mindset. The power dynamic is stark, as Montoya noted: when Marko said 'jump', you jumped, a reality that continues to define the Red Bull driver experience today.