“I saw Max in tears for the first time” Helmut Marko recalls an incident which transformed the reigning world champion’s career
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Marko Helmut and Max Verstappen
Everything is going well for Max Verstappen. He’s sitting with an 80-point cushion at the top of the driver standings, already having won 8 races. While his lead is not yet technically insurmountable, it is a HUGE one. Charles Leclerc, his closest rival in the standings, has a mountain to climb to get there.
Max Verstappen has always been fast. In 2015, he made his debut for Toro Rosso and is currently in his eighth season as a Formula 1 driver. The Dutchman is not even 25 years old yet, and that makes it easy for people to forget that he has been in the sport for a very, very long time.
Verstappen is the youngest debutant ever. Not only that, but he is also the youngest race winner ever, a feat he achieved at only 18 years of age at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. It was clear from the very beginning that Verstappen was destined for greatness, and he has delivered on Red Bull’s faith in him.
Helmut Marko: Max Verstappen has ‘calmed down’ after first world title
Max Verstappen had made his F1 weekend debut back in 2014 when he was barely just 17. According to Helmut Marko, this was a deliberate decision by Red Bull so Max could prove his mettle. In an interview with Formula1.nl, Marko said: “We deliberately chose to throw Max in the deep end.” The circuit Max Verstappen tested the car on was Suzuka, a track Marko considered one for ‘tough guys’.
And sure enough, Verstappen impressed in his first outing: “In Suzuka, we got the confirmation of what I already knew: Max did nothing wrong in that training and was competitive from the first moment he got into a Formula 1 car.”
This year, Max Verstappen has seemed much calmer and more mature in his driving. Marko thinks this is a result of winning the world title last year: “He lives his own life and has calmed down after his first world title. So the impatience to want to drive on the limit every lap has disappeared. He knows: that in qualifying and the race you have to be fast.” but expressed regret that Verstappen couldn’t become the youngest Formula 1 champion of all time.
Marko also recalled an incident that changed the course of Max Verstappen’s career. Monaco had always been a bit of a thorn in the side of the Dutchman. He had retired in both of his first races on the track, and finished 5th in 2017, but then he crashed once again in free practice 3 in 2018, which meant he would not compete in qualifying, as the team could not repair his car in time.
On a weekend where teammate Daniel Ricciardo took pole position, Max Verstappen would certainly have had a shot at it as well. And that was the moment when Marko feels that something changed in him: “Then I saw Max in tears for the first time. I was also disappointed. If you have such a good car, don’t park it in the barriers. Fortunately, he learned from it. and finally succeeded last year.”
Max Verstappen finally won the Monaco Grand Prix last year, as pole position taker Charles Leclerc was unable to start the race after having crashed in qualifying. As for the present, Max Verstappen would hope to make a strong return to Formula 1 running in a week’s time at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Also Read: Helmut Marko thinks Yuki Tsunoda is already at Pierre Gasly’s level in ‘one-lap speed’
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Aniket Tripathi
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