2023-08-12 12:11:27
(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen dominates the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Dutchman won ten of the first twelve races, most recently he even triumphed eight times in a row. In the history of the premier class, only Sebastian Vettel achieved a longer series before him.
Helmut Marko would also trust Max Verstappen to achieve top results with smaller teams
The German even won nine times in a row for Red Bull at the end of the 2013 season. As always, the question arises: What part does the driver have in a series like this and what part does the car play? In the case of Verstappen, Helmut Marko has a clear opinion.
“Max would be in a class of its own in every car,” he clarifies in an exclusive interview with ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ and emphasizes: “The Max from 2020 cannot be compared to the Max from 2023 – apart from the fact that the name is the same. He has gained tremendous sovereignty.”
“For me, the master of race reading was always [Lewis] Hamilton how he divided his tires. And Max has now caught up. If not even better because he is better in basic speed. There was an unbelievable maturing process,” he says.
That’s why Marko is sure that Verstappen would also get good results in worse cars. Especially with difficult conditions in qualifying, the Austrian Verstappen would be able to achieve one or two sensational results.
At the last race before the summer break in Belgium, the world champion took a good eight tenths of a second off the rest of the world in qualifying on a drying track. Marko emphasizes: “If such conditions exist, he puts an AlphaTauri or Haas, which is a qualifying car, on pole.”
Marko: Verstappen will not drive Formula 1 forever
In the long run, however, Verstappen would not make him happy, believes Marko. “It’s hard to say how long he would have the motivation to fight in an AlphaTauri. Max is different,” he emphasizes and explains: “One day he will come and say: ‘Thank you, that’s it.'”
Verstappen’s current Red Bull contract runs until the end of 2028. However, the two-time world champion himself has never made a secret of the fact that he will eventually leave Formula 1 if travel stress et cetera becomes too great for him.
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“It’s not just the races, but in between you travel to the factory, have marketing obligations, and I’m someone who loves to be at home,” said Verstappen, who therefore doesn’t know how long he’ll be in the Formula 1 will drive.
Until his resignation, Helmut Marko and Co. should still have a lot of fun with him.
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