Helmut Marko admits Max Verstappen ‘not used to’ fighting hard against rivals after 2023 dominance

Max Verstappen has won two consecutive world championships under the ongoing ground-effect era.

Helmut Marko admits Max Verstappen ‘not used to’ fighting hard against rivals after 2023 dominance

Helmut Marko with Max Verstappen (Image Via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen is currently facing massive performance issues from the RB20 challenger mid-way through the 2024 season. The Dutchman is following up after a highly dominant 2023 campaign where he won the majority of the races. However, this season is different as he is in no longer the comfort zone of a ‘rocketship’ chassis. Hence, Helmut Marko reckoned that the reigning world championship was not used to such tough battles for the race wins.

Red Bull had started the 2024 season off in a decent manner. However, the chassis started producing major grip and balance issues. Max Verstappen was extremely vocal about the issues in the challenger from the get-go.

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Additionally, in the past 12 races, Verstappen has managed to win only seven races. Helmut Marko recalled that the team thought to have a similar trajectory to the 2023 season this time around.

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In the first three races we thought we were going to have a similar season to last year, but then suddenly there was the turnaround.
Helmut Marko via ORF

As a result, Marko noted that Verstappen was not used to such competition as well as the team. Hence, Red Bull needed to get used to such fierce competition during all the races. Additionally, the 81-year-old believed that such competition was even better for the fans and journalists.

Max is not used to that and we are also not used enough to the fact that you have to fight hard with competitors. That’s something that makes it better for fans and journalists, but we have to endure and eventually master the situation.
Helmut Marko added.
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Helmut Marko claims Red Bull ‘shouldn’t pretend’ that everything is lost

Red Bull and Max Verstappen still continue to lead the championships with a very comfortable score. The rivals need to put forth extremely dominant performance and Verstappen needs to DNF multiple times. Only then would the rivals have a shot at overtaking the Dutchman down the season. Hence, Helmut Marko felt that this situation wasn’t possible just yet.

Max Verstappen, elmut Marko and Christian Horner
Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)

Marko pointed out that the team led the championship and there were a lot of races pending. As a result, the Red Bull didn’t need to pretend that everything was lost in terms of retaining the lead. Additionally, the Austrian did accept that the team couldn’t ‘afford’ such small and easy mistakes from the drivers.

We’re still in the lead in both championships. There are still a lot of races, so we shouldn’t pretend that everything is lost. But we absolutely cannot afford the small and easy mistakes.
Helmut Marko noted.

Red Bull has continued to implement multiple upgrades in the challenger in hopes of improving performance down the season. The competition hasn’t been any closer during the ground-effect era as much as the 2024 season. Hence, the end of the season would be exciting for the fans and the drivers alike.

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