“He is our biggest success” – Helmut Marko ranks Max Verstappen a bigger success than 4-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel

Helmut Marko claimed that Max Verstappen is a bigger success for Red Bull than former World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Max Verstappen won the 2021 F1 World Championship title in the last race of the season. This was the Dutchman’s first title of his career. And just being 24, he is one of the youngest ever to win the F1 title.

But many drew parallels with former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. The two had similar career trajectories en route to claiming their first title.

Both Verstappen and Vettel had driven for Toro Rosso and then were promoted to Red Bull. The two were well known for their aggressive driving style and hunger for wins.

Vettel won his first title in 2010 with Red Bull at the age of 23. He has crowned the youngest World Champion, a record that still stands. While Max won it at 24 in 2021 and is the 4th youngest champion in the sport.

 

Even to say, Max and Seb won their titles in the last race of the season. That too, both of them were crowned World Champions and won their first title in the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi.

So to settle the debate on the better driver, Red Bull Chief advisor Helmut Marko was asked to choose his pick. And the Austrian sided with the Dutchman as the bigger success story.

Marko said, “Max is definitely our biggest success story despite Vettel winning 4 world titles. After all, he’s 24 years old. He’s still very young and already very experienced.”

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Is Max Verstappen better than Sebastian Vettel?

Although this is a tricky debate to settle, both sets of fans can agree on one thing. Both, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are the most iconic drivers for Red Bull.

During his heydays, Vettel was an unstoppable force. He spent 6 seasons with Red Bull before making a move to Ferrari in 2015. From 2010 to 2013 he won 4 straight championship titles on the trot.

At that time, Red Bull had one of the finest cars on the grid. Backed by the brains of Adrian Newey and co., Red Bull was far ahead of the rest of the grid.

On the other hand, Max is a generational talent who broke into F1 at the age of 16. He won a title in 2021 and has many more seasons ahead of him. Max also won against a dominant Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes who held the championship with a tight grip.

So, Vettel was the best driver during his days at Red Bull. But if you compare it with the current age and competition in F1, Max Verstappen can be a bigger success for Red Bull.

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