After initial difficulties with two failures in the first three races, world champion Max Verstappen is now driving an outstanding Formula 1 season 2022. A week ago in Belgium he celebrated his ninth win of the season, and at the home race in Zandvoort this weekend only counts for the Dutchman the first place. Red Bull Motorsport Director Dr. In an interview, Helmut Marko has now made a promise to Verstappen, which sounds like a threat.
The Austrian appears in conversation with “f1-insider.com“namely convinced that the superstar of the current Formula 1 season has not yet reached its maximum.
“He’s still a long way from reaching his performance limit. He’s still in a learning phase. Even if it sounds unbelievable: Max will be even better in the future,” says Marko, who has supported the 24-year-old since he started Formula 1 accompanied seven years ago.
The longtime Red Bull advisor referred to the steep learning curve that Verstappen would have shown in the premier class of motorsport in recent years. While in his early years he was often involved in accidents and collisions, especially at the start and early stages of a race, he is now more relaxed.
Verstappen already has 29 Grand Prix victories in Formula 1
Marko cited the Hungarian race as an example of this: “In Budapest you could see his progression after the start. He had problems accelerating and just let the other cars pass because he knew he’d get them again. Two years ago he still would have resisted – and achieved a worse end result.”
In Spa-Francorchamps, too, the Dutchman initially drove outside the top ten, but then clinched his ninth win of the season with a masterly driving performance.
“We’re seeing Max getting better and better, but we haven’t seen the best yet,” Marko is certain.
Max Verstappen has already won 29 races in his Formula 1 career. He has already overtaken legends like former world champions Jackie Stewart (27 wins) and Niki Lauda (25 wins) this season. The Red Bull star can even outperform two-time world champion Fernando Alonso (with 32 wins) this year.