Red Bull boss Helmut Marko is in awe of Max Verstappen after a thrilling few laps took him to Saudi Arabian GP victory.
A thrilling duel between Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saw them change positions multiple times, only for the former to cross the chequered flag first.
The Dutchman is in his prime, and he showed in the fastest street circuit in the world. No wonder his Red Bull boss Helmut Marko is okay with paying the 24-year-old £40 million a year.
That is Max. We know that he is expensive, but he is worth it.
The decisive move 🍿#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JWfqmLcZSi
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2022
Sergio Perez lost race lead only for Max to win
The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez was relatively unlucky after he pitted early only for Charles Leclerc (then P2) to dummy their own pit stop and stay on the track.
To add salt to Perez’s wounds, a Latifi crash prompted a safety car, virtually gifting Verstappen and the Ferrari duo free pit stops.
Marko is undoubtedly disappointed with the hard-luck meted out to Perez, but knew his teammate would get the win for Red Bull, eventually.
“The Safety Car was not optimal for us. We lost a podium place with Perez and we would have liked to have put in an undercut with Max because his tyres were worn.
“After that, we saw on the hard tyre that the tyre wear was not nearly as high as expected. That is why we said to Max ‘you can now attack full’.
“Thanks to our higher top speed, we managed to overtake the Ferrari, although it still happened with an incredible manoeuvre.
“We kind of expected the race to go in this direction. With Max in the car, you can count on him to finish the job.”
