Helmut Marko doesn’t believe that any driver could currently match Max Verstappen – Besides, the competition didn’t do a good job in 2023
“P2 behind Max is like a victory these days,” declared Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. In Spa, Verstappen has already scored his eighth Formula 1 victory in a row and in this respect has moved into sole second place in the perpetual leaderboard.
Despite starting from sixth on the grid due to a penalty, the Dutchman ended up winning by 22 seconds from team-mate Sergio Perez, who had led the Grand Prix after the first lap.
Marko does not blame Perez for this, however. “His qualifying was good this weekend and his race was also good. If you take Max away, then he is in front. But Max is Max and he is something special,” the Austrian explains.
Marko gets even more explicit and stresses: “People have to realise that he is already one of the best in the history of our sport. You have to rank him with Fangio, Schumacher and Senna among the very best. And he will only be 26 in two months.”
As a result, he believes the criticism of Perez is often unwarranted. On the ‘F1 Nation’ podcast, he clarifies, “There is no other driver who could stay on a par with [Max]. Maybe [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton would be closer.”
“But nobody could beat him at the moment,” Marko is certain, stressing, “He’s taking it easy on the tyres and he’s still fast. He can read the race.” Verstappen is not only fast, he also has an “incredible efficiency in his head. “
Marko: Others didn’t do a good job
While Verstappen claimed his eighth consecutive win at Spa, it was as many as Red Bull’s 13th success overall. The Bulls have been unbeaten since the 2022 season finale in Abu Dhabi, something Marko said he had not expected.
“We were honestly surprised that the others didn’t do a good job. Because both Mercedes and Ferrari didn’t make a step forward [in the winter],” he says of the competition, explaining, “That’s why we’re so far ahead [in the WRC] now.”
“The opponents behind us are changing all the time. Sometimes it’s Ferrari, sometimes it’s McLaren and then it’s Aston Martin or Mercedes who are behind us,” Marko said. And because the battle for second place in the world championship is so close, the bulls have long since pulled away at the front.
503 points for Red Bull at the summer break – more than twice as many as Mercedes (247) in second place. That also gives Red Bull “naturally” an advantage in developing the new car for 2024, admits Marko.
“We don’t have to use all our resources on this year’s car,” he explains. And while Red Bull probably don’t need to develop the RB19 much further to take both World Championship titles this year, the Bulls are also on course to win all 22 races of the season.
Asked if that is really possible, Marko says the “logical” answer would have to be no. “But we never thought it would be possible. “But we also never thought we could win the first twelve races. So why not?” he grins.
