Helmut Marko admits that he didn’t expect Max Verstappen to be as aggressive as he is now following his 2021 World Title win.
Verstappen stated multiple times that his goal in F1 was to win one World Title. Anything extra that came to him, he would take it as an added bonus.
However, after a rocky start to the 2022 campaign, it seems that the Dutchman is hungry for more after all. Honda left Red Bull and F1 after 2021, and the Milton-Keynes outfit are using their own power-unit as of now.
The transition hasn’t been easy, as Verstappen suffered two engine failures so far this year. The first came in Bahrain, after which he capitalized by winning in Jeddah. At the Australian GP last weekend, he suffered yet another issue that forced him to retire the car.
During the race in Melbourne, Verstappen looked frustrated sitting behind Leclerc in P2. He repeatedly complained about his lack of pace, and the fact that his tyres suffered graining issues.
Red Bull’s advisor Marko, suggested that the 24-year old needs another World Title to calm him down.
Also read: Charles Leclerc says he’s relishing Ferrari’s big jump after two years of struggles
Max Verstappen goes into qualifying with too much pressure, says Marko
Marko went on to talk about how Verstappen put himself under pressure during qualifying. Finishing behind Leclerc didn’t sit right with him and the Red Bull driver admitted that he ‘wanted more’.
“He goes over the limit, he wants too much,” Marko said after the Australian GP. “That didn’t work out here in the last sector. We thought that with the world championship title there would be some calmness from him.
Gutted. Very frustrating to end another race like this as we were looking at an easy P2 😤
Congrats to @SChecoPerez on scoring another podium. 💪
We have to work hard the coming days to get on top of things and improve for Imola. pic.twitter.com/6hEUlkvwZK
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 10, 2022
“But he probably needs another title so that he doesn’t go into qualifying with so much pressure.” the 78-year old added.
Red Bull have the better car compared to Mercedes when it comes to speed. However, when reliability is brought into account, the Silver Arrows’ superiority have seen them jump the Austrian team.
The F1 season resumes in two weeks time, when the teams travel to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
