Helmut Marko says there was one driver Toro Rosso tried to keep away from Red Bull

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Red Bull know a thing or two about promoting younger talent from their sister Formula 1 team and leading them to success.

The most recent example is now considered the best driver in the discipline, and has a shot at a fifth consecutive drivers’ championship this year.

Red Bull don’t just grow talent on trees, but they invest in it. Their junior careers prepare them to be ready for the leap to Formula 1 and then the senior team. But not everyone makes it.

The first example of their programme truly working was Sebastian Vettel back in 2008. He was the first driver from their setup to win a race.

Vettel is the best driver Lewis Hamilton ever raced, and won four titles between the 2010 and 2013 seasons. Before he arrived, the team didn’t really know what victory looked like.

Vettel’s 2025 title favourite is Lando Norris, not Max Verstappen, which is a slight surprise given their origins. Both rank as Red Bull’s two greatest drivers of all time, and will do for some time.

READ MORE: How Sebastian Vettel reacted to Red Bull sacking Christian Horner as F1 team principal

Helmut Marko says Toro Rosso tried to keep Sebastian Vettel away from Red Bull

Verstappen and Vettel once had ‘friction’ together when the Dutchman was just beginning to establish himself as a top driver.

The former’s conduct on track rubbed a few people up the wrong way in 2016, and his late defence was a particular topic. Since then, he has honed his racecraft a little.

But his route to Red Bull was a fairly clear one. They got him in as soon as they could, and Toro Rosso had little say. That wasn’t exactly the case with Vettel, though.

Helmut Marko has just revealed that Toro Rosso actually tried their best and put up a ‘fight’ to Red Bull, in a bid to keep their highly-rated talent. Sadly for them, it failed.

“There was Vettel, which was a big fight with BMW to get him,” said Marko. “In the end, we succeeded, and then Vettel won Monza [2008]. Immediately, Gerhard [Berger] is a very competitive person.

“He didn’t want to be number two, so now the fight was between Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing for Vettel, where Red Bull Racing succeeded.”

READ MORE: Mark Webber once revealed the moment Sebastian Vettel declared Formula 1 was ‘not for me’

What did Sebastian Vettel achieve at Toro Rosso before his Red Bull promotion?

Although Vettel’s full-time rookie season with Toro Rosso started miserably with an underdeveloped and year-old car, things soon improved.

Immediately after receiving a new car in Monaco, he scored his first points of the campaign in fifth, backing it up with another point for eighth at the following round in Canada.

He’d score points three more times before his famous Italian Grand Prix win, and another three times after that before the season ended.

Vettel played a key role in the 2008 title decider, finishing fourth at a damp Brazil, and ending up eighth in the championship before his move to Red Bull.

In 2009, he continued to win races, and the year after that he won a title. It’s fair to say the move worked out for Red Bull and Vettel.