Max Verstappen has been on a warpath under the current set of F1 regulations.
Helmut Marko & Max Verstappen (Via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen continues his dominant run in the pinnacle of motorsport even during the 2024 season. Verstappen already scored four races wins, courtesy of the impressive RB20. He has received a lot of praise from a majority of the people on the grid. Hence, amidst the reigning world champion’s dominant form, Dr. Helmut Marko has labeled him ‘unbeatable.’
Max Verstappen has a similar performance trajectory in the previous season’s beginning. Hence, Helmut Marko pointed out that the Dutchman was on a tight course toward his title defense. The situation for the reigning world champion was getting better.
This quality was also evident from the way the RB20 was developed and tuned to Verstappen’s liking. The Red Bull advisor also mentioned that Verstappen and his race engineer were working together in harmony.
Max is on a tight course towards successful title defense. It is getting better and better, even if this is difficult to imagine after the past season. This can also be seen when tuning his car. We go step by step even on a weekend in sprint format like in Shanghai, in free practice and then in sprint quality. There is harmony between Max and GP, i.e. his racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.Helmut Marko said, as reported by speedweek.com.
Additionally, Marko claimed that Verstappen was no longer ”impatient’ regarding his performances in F1. According to the Austrian, the Red Bull star pursued two goals of scoring the pole position and even the race victory of the weekend. This added with his amazing tire management skills further increased his chances of winning. Hence, the three-time world champion was ‘unbeatable’ in F1 due to these circumstances.
Max is also no longer impatient, but pursues two goals calmly and in a concentrated manner: if possible, put the car on pole, but the main focus is on the race. This combination, this overview, paired with excellent tire management, all of this currently makes it unbeatable.Helmut Marko noted.
Helmut Marko reveals the circuits where rival teams could ‘get close’ to Max Verstappen
Ferrari and McLaren have been constantly closing in on Max Verstappen and Red Bull ever since the season’s beginning. Hence, updates down the season will see the rivals getting closer to the dominant front runners. Helmut Marko claimed that slow street circuits such as Miami and Monaco could witness rival teams coming closer to the Austrian constructor. Marko believed that Verstappen would have a tough time scoring a pole qualifying at these circuits.
Race tracks, where the opponents could get a little closer, are Miami or Monaco, especially since the competition has come closer, especially in the qualification trim. There, I can imagine, it will not be easy to stand in pole position.Helmut Marko revealed.
The Chinese GP witnessed great pace improvement from McLaren as Lando Norris scored a P2 finish above Sergio Perez. Hence, Marko commented on this and mentioned that he was ‘amazed’ by this situation. However, the Austrian expected more pace from Ferrari over the weekend against Verstappen. But Maranello failed to achieve a top three spot in any of the racing sessions and hence it cost them major points.
We were amazed in China that this time Lando Norris was second force with McLaren. We expected Ferrari to perform more. But they were unable to get close to the top three in the long runs or in qualifying, nor in the races.Helmut Marko concluded.
The 2024 season would be highly exciting to all the fans for a plethora of reasons. The top five teams are close to each other in terms of points and anyone can close in. The in-season upgrades to Mercedes could help the team score much smoother races down the season. Time will tell about how different teams showcase resistance towards Red Bull domination.
