Marko proud: "We can assume that Max will become world champion"

Max Verstappen cannot let a world championship slip away, even Helmut Marko knows. Speaking to Austria's ORF, the Red Bull Racing advisor looks back on the turbulent season and expresses his admiration for Verstappen.

At the start of the season, it did not look as if the Dutchman would simply take a second world title to his name. With two stoppages and a strong Charles Leclerc, Red Bull and Ferrari were preparing for a duel until the end of the year, but nothing was further from the truth.

"Our car got better and better, while Ferrari had technical defects and made mistakes while driving," Marko summed up the situation. It caused Ferrari to miss out on many points unnecessarily. "As a result, the gap for us became a comfortable lead after a while."

It ensures that Red Bull now faces a reassuring situation. With a 116-point lead, it is possible that Verstappen could win the world title as early as this weekend in Singapore, but more realistic is one of the races after that. Either way, Marko knows the Dutch driver will not let this slip away. "We can assume that Max will become world champion. It's just a matter of time," said Marko, who hopes Verstappen takes the world title in Japan.