Despite the fact that Marko became world champion four times with Sebastian Vettel, he sees in Max Verstappen ‘the best driver he has ever had’. “Yes, very clearly. After winning the world championship, he has gained sovereignty without losing speed. And it’s even faster with less risk and less material wear.”
In the World Cup position, the Dutchman has 80 points ahead of ‘closest attacker’ Charles Leclerc and Verstappen could even secure the championship with only second places with the remaining matches. Yet Marko does not want to think about that scenario. “That is not our goal and it would be extremely risky. We saw that last year when we suddenly only achieved second places.”
Comfortable Verstappen
To sue opposite Motorsport Total. “We still have three or four races to win if the balance of power remains this way. If Mercedes can still fight for the wins on their own, it would be better for us and worse for Ferrari. Because Ferrari has to score optimally to have a chance.”
Teammate Sergio Pérez was able to keep up with Verstappen at the start of the F1 season, but that has changed since updates were made to the cars, mainly to make the Dutchman more comfortable in the car, according to the Red Bull driver. counselor. “Max likes a car that is good at the front. He doesn’t really care what the back does. If the rear breaks out at 300 kilometers per hour, Pérez says – like all drivers before him – that the car is uncontrollable, while Max does not change that at all.”
Verstappen cheers with his team for a team photo after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring Circuit on July 31.
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Verstappen factor
Marko says that this makes the ‘Verstappen factor’ clear. “With a car that suits Max better, the ‘Verstappen factor’ is automatically emphasized more than before. And when you have such a top class driver in your team, it’s important to get the most out of that.”
Pérez may have fallen back to his old level as a result, says Marko. “Anyway, being Max’s teammate isn’t easy.”
He is also not worried about Ferrari’s speed in the last races. In Spielberg and Le Castellet, the red cars seemed to be a bit faster. “Apart from Barcelona, we have always been on an equal footing with Ferrari this season. Often the shape of the day decided who was in the front in the end – barring strategic or technical issues, which we have much less. We might be just a little behind in the individual lap.”