Newly crowned three-time F1 champion Max Verstappen is the highest-earning driver in F1 as he earns a whopping $55,000,000 from Red Bull each season. Even though the Dutchman receives such a high amount from the Milton Keynes outfit, it has not stopped Helmut Marko from going “too far” while betting with him.
The 26-year-old shed light on the Austrian’s habit of betting during his press conference at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this year. The Red Bull driver revealed that the 80-year-old “likes his bets” and often puts in a lot of money.
Verstappen revealed how Marko is unafraid of betting big
Max Verstappen provided insight into Helmut Marko’s habit of betting during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, a race in which his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo returned to the grid. The Australian, who replaced the sacked Nyck de Vries, asked the Dutchman to provide the details about how Marko is fond of betting.
Red Bulls topadviseur Helmut Marko durft geen weddenschappen meer af te sluiten met Max Verstappen.
🗣️ “Als hij zegt dat hij iets wil of kan doen, dan doet hij het ook. Hij lijkt geen grenzen te kennen.” https://t.co/Zq5T72JzTi via @telegraaf
— Erik van Haren (@ErikvHaren) October 8, 2023
In reply, Verstappen stated (as quoted by mirror.co.uk), “He likes his bets, but he actually goes quite far, Helmut. There’s always quite a bit of money involved“! However, soon after the 26-year-old clinched his third world championship title, Marko has now stopped betting with him.
The Red Bull advisor explained the same by telling telegraaf.nl, “If he says he wants or can do something, he does it. He seems to know no boundaries“. While the 80-year-old no longer bets with Verstappen, he could do so with Ricciardo. During the same press conference with Verstappen, the Australian had expressed interest in the same.
Daniel Ricciardo is keen to bet with Helmut Marko
After Max Verstappen explained how much Helmut Marko enjoys betting, Daniel Ricciardo stated that he might consider putting some bets with the Austrian himself. As quoted by mirror.co.uk, the Australian said, “Alright. Let’s see how the first few races go, and then I might start making some bets“.
Ricciardo does seem to enjoy gambling, as he also made some bets during his McLaren days. The 34-year-old once famously made a bet with McLaren CEO Zak Brown that forced the American businessman to get a tattoo.
Ricciardo had made a bet with Brown that if he won a race in the 2021 season, then the 51-year-old would make a tattoo of the circuit at which he registered a victory. Hence, since Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix that season, Brown got a tattoo made of the Monza circuit.
