Max Verstappen has been a force to reckon with for the past few seasons and one of the people to have witnessed his dominance from up close is Helmut Marko. As per a report by Formule1.nl, even the Red Bull Technical Officer was left in awe following Verstappen’s victory at the inaugural Las Vegas GP.
Marko said, “How would I summarize this race succinctly? Max was on fire. That may not be anything new, but this was something different.” He explained that the main attraction of the night for him was to watch Verstappen make his way up the field after serving his 5-second time penalty.
🥂 Huge congrats to @redbullracing on their 20th win in ONE season, what a record!
Also sealing their first 1-2 in the @F1 drivers’ championship 👏#LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/x3VZrp5XXw
— Max Verstappen (@VerstappenCOM) November 20, 2023
Marko admitted that Verstappen made all the difference during his second stint with the hard tires. He also applauded the two Red Bull teammates for helping each other out. Overall, it was flawless execution for Red Bull and Marko is extremely delighted about it.
The Las Vegas GP victory marked Verstappen’s 18th win of the season, something that Marko finds spectacular. The Red Bull patriarch says that the main goal now is to end the season with another win so that Verstappen has 19 wins to his name in a single season, a record that isn’t likely to be broken soon.
Helmut Marko is happy with Max Verstappen changing his opinion
Verstappen clearly underwent a change in opinion regarding the Las Vegas GP following his victory. The Dutchman had gone no holds barred with his criticism for the race at Sin City. Starting from calling it a clown show to claiming that he would have torn down the place if he were a fan.
However, after he did win the race, the Red Bull star was heard singing Viva Las Vegas on the radio with his team. Helmut Marko is also quite happy regarding the change in opinion. Marko said, “All’s well that ends well. A race like this once a year is fine.”
Jolyon Palmer didn’t mince his words when speaking about Max Verstappen’s attitude towards the #LasVegasGP 👀
Is he right? 🤔#F1 pic.twitter.com/xoFZmX1bfU
— Autosport (@autosport) November 20, 2023
The 80-year old Austrian had previously urged Verstappen to tone down his criticism a little bit. He had explained that Red Bull did not want to upset their sponsors since it is where most of the money comes from.
Sky Sports Analysts Martin Brundle and Danica Patrick had also spoken out regarding the issue and tried to explain that the job of an F1 driver includes a lot more than just racing. However, Verstappen is the kind of a driver who just loves to race and nothing else. However, it won’t be a mistake to say that even he enjoyed the Las Vegas GP race.
