Max Verstappen’s breathtaking move to overtake both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz once the lights went out in Mexico helped Helmut Marko win a bet against Gianpiero Lambiase. After Verstappen took the lead going into turn 1, Marko emerged victorious in the bet.
Verstappen is known for his quick starts from the line, and given how rapid the RB-19 is, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc saw their efforts in qualification go in vain. This also led to Marko putting heaps of praise for the Dutchman.
🆕 @F1 Record 🏆 A sweet 16 wins in a season 🦁pic.twitter.com/jLRTfZFqUK
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 30, 2023
Speaking of this, he said as per Dutch Motorsport, “I had made a bet with Gianpiero Lambiase about who would lead after Turn 1. GP lost that bet.” With this, he also mentioned that he doesn’t bet with the three-time world champion anymore.
The Red Bull veteran also added that he takes the bets against Verstappen’s race engineer Lambiase. Interestingly, he came out on top the last two times they made a bet. Therefore, Verstappen’s quick launch to deny the Ferrari duo came in handy for the 80-year-old.
Helmut Marko goes into full Max Verstappen appraisal mode
After Max Verstappen took the lead in the Mexico City GP and won the race, Helmut Marko praised his star driver once again. The Red Bull taskmaster focused on how mighty the Dutch driver was throughout the race until the red flag was called.
Kevin Magnussen’s crash into the barrier led to stewards calling out the red flag. It neutralized the gap Verstappen built over the first 34 laps. Additionally, he was also furious over the decision to halt the outing. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old kept his nerve and took P1, to win his 16th race of 2023.
Thank you Mexico, the past few days have been incredible 🇲🇽🙌
We are experiencing an amazing season, and again today, we had a really strong race! We were absolutely flying @redbullracing 👏 Let’s keep pushing 💪#MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/RrIFMUKjM6
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 29, 2023
As F1 returns to Brazil next week, Marko asked everyone at Red Bull including Verstappen to be cautious. This is because the Sao Paulo race has not been a decent hunting ground for the Bulls over the last couple of years. In 2021, Lewis Hamilton won the race. Last year, it was George Russell who led Mercedes to a 1-2 finish.
Therefore, the upcoming Sao Paolo GP is expected to be a fitting test for Max Verstappen and the company. It will be a challenging race, because it is also a sprint weekend.
