Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko views four-time world champion Max Verstappen as a ‘trump card’ in the new Formula 1 season. After a dubious winter test, he expects the team to once again rely on the extraordinary skills of the Dutch driver; in the battle with McLaren and Ferrari, only Verstappen could make the difference.
In 2024, Max Verstappen managed to secure his fourth world title, despite his team occasionally falling short of the competition. While the Dutchman secured the championship, Red Bull only managed to reach third place among the constructors – a rare contrast within Formula 1. Marko hopes that the competition will continue to snatch points from each other this year, as was the case last season. Particularly at McLaren, they refused to designate a first driver, which was detrimental to title candidate Lando Norris.
‘Trump Card’
“I still rate Piastri very highly,” Helmut Marko recently told sport.de. “That’s why I hope that the McLaren duo will continue to snatch points from each other. After all, we benefit from that. Verstappen is clearly our number one, but I don’t expect Piastri to voluntarily declare himself the second driver. On some circuits, he was just as fast, if not faster, than Lando Norris.”
However, the clear role division at Red Bull also had its drawbacks. Perennial second fiddle Sergio Pérez could never match Verstappen, causing the team to quickly lose ground in the constructors’ championship. McLaren and Ferrari managed to overtake the Austrians in the second half of the season. Admittedly, as the year progressed, the RB20 increasingly disappointed. It was precisely at these moments that Max Verstappen excelled and made the difference in the championship. In this respect, Helmut Marko agrees with Jos Verstappen: if the RB21 falls short, Verstappen is not to blame. “If the car is not optimal, we still have our trump card, Max Verstappen,” concluded the 81-year-old Austrian.
