Helmut Marko has opened up on his very close bond with Max Verstappen following his decision to leave the Red Bull F1 squad after two decades, alongside confirming that GianPiero Lambiase remains at the team.
The Austrian advisor brought many talents through throughout this century. Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were the biggest successes at Red Bull Racing.
Helmut Marko speaks about his relationship with Red Bull F1 star Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) have had many drivers over the years. While Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to bring unbelievable success to the main team, the Austrian revealed his closest relationship was with Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman joined Red Bull Racing at the 2016 Spanish GP, winning on debut after getting promoted from Toro Rosso early that season. He had done a full year with them in 2015. Since then he has won a further 70 races. Like Vettel, he has taken four Drivers’ Championships.
Speaking to ORF, Helmut Marko outlined how much Max Verstappen has grown since his debut 10 years ago. He also believes the 28-year-old is continuing to get better and better.
“The connection was certainly a very intense one. It was the closest connection I have ever had with a driver.
“And the fascinating thing was that with each passing year, Max Verstappen became faster, more mature and better.
“And to this day, I still cannot foresee an end to this development, even though he is already the best driver.
“That was the fascinating thing. We hardly ever had any differences of opinion.
“He did make a few silly mistakes in the early stages. But the more successful he became, the simpler his approach became.
“He has become much calmer. He hardly ever has any lapses or outbursts, which were of course present in the early stages.
“And he has become an incredibly perfect or incredible personality for his age.”
Red Bull Racing in a good position for their F1 future says Helmut Marko as he confirms GianPiero Lambiase is staying to work with Max Verstappen
With Red Bull now making their own engines from next year in partnership with Ford, Marko is confident they are in a strong position for the future.
He also confirmed that highly respected GianPiero Lambiase remains at Red Bull Racing. He has been with the team for over a decade. The British-Italian engineer is best known for his legendary partnership with Max Verstappen, of course.
“I think the team is well positioned.
“A lot is changing. The engine department is now being added to the pure chassis manufacturer. That’s 2,000 people. You need different structures for that.
“GP is staying, by the way. I don’t know where this rumour is coming from again. There are several race engineers, several data engineers. There are always restructuring measures.
Finally, Helmut Marko talked about Max Verstappen and his leadership qualities inside the Red Bull F1 squad.
“But in the meantime, as already mentioned, Max has become such a personality that, despite his relatively young age, he also leads a team and can lead it the way he does.”
