Max Verstappen admits he often skipped taking Helmut Marko’s calls as he was ‘never scared of him like other Red Bull juniors’
Max Verstappen has dished out details on his relationship with Red Bull Chief Advisor Helmut Marko who had come across as quite stern to some of the Red Bull Academy juniors but not the Dutchman.
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Red Bull’s marqueé driver Max Verstappen is a sole product of his father Jos’ intense training and the lessons he learnt from the Red Bull Junior Academy under the team’s Chief Advisor Helmut Marko. Now that the Dutchman is a three-time World Champion at only 26 years of age, there have been several questions regarding his childhood training days. And even though the Red Bull Junior Academy is famous for being quite hard on the newbie racers, Verstappen said he never found its forefather Marko that scary.
Helmut Marko has been associated with Red Bull Racing for many years, and he has produced racers of great repute including Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Daniel Ricciardo, among others. Thus, the Red Bull Junior Academy is also often called as the Helmut Marko Academy for F1 racers. But Marko’s methods have been criticized by some drivers who graduated from the Academy and were quite horrified of the ‘brutal’ pressure they were put under.
But Max Verstappen has refused to conform to the notions that Helmut Marko was ‘brutal’ in dealing with him as he claimed he was never afraid of the Austrian.
Of course nowadays we can tell each other everything. But I was never like other juniors, who were downright scared of Helmut [Marko]. I remember him calling me at 7.30 or 8.00 in the morning. I just didn't answer.Max Verstappen said, as reported by GP Blog.
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Dutch F1 expert has claimed Max Verstappen will have a ‘big lead again’ in 2024
The 2023 season was a long saga of Red Bull proving how their RB23 is miles apart from all other cars in terms of speed and performance. And Max Verstappen tapped into the power of the Red Bull ‘rocketship’ to win 19 out of the 22 races that were held last year. But Dutch racer Robin Frijns, in his latest interview for Formule1.nl, admitted he believes Max Verstappen’s masterful performance will be repeated in 2024.
Max will have a big lead again, as I understand. From time to time I check in with Sébastien Buemi [RB simulator driver, Frijns’ teammate], he is often in the simulator for Red Bull. It seems they still found something here and there.
Robin Frijns said, via Formule1.nl.
In other news, Max Verstappen has been streaming F1 videogame sessions on his official Twitch channel for the better part of the winter break. And during those sessions, he has interacted with several fans too. During one of those interactions, Max Verstappen made a comment about football legend Cristiano Ronaldo’s lack of tattoos that is actually a hilarious myth!
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Riddhi Mondal
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