Marko praises Verstappen (again): 'Gets pole with a Haas too'

Helmut Marko seems to miss no opportunity to praise Max Verstappen. This time, the Red Bull Racing adviser, during an interview with Motorsport Total, has been full of praise for his star driver, who is on his way to his third consecutive world title.

Verstappen has already won eight Grands Prix in a row. And in Zandvoort, after the summer break, he can match Sebastian Vettel's record. The German won his nine consecutive races with Red Bull. Also, back then, Marko was obviously the team's adviser. In those days, the Austrian was full of admiration for Vettel; he is the same about his current driver. More than that, even.

'Verstappen basically faster than Hamilton'

Speaking to German Medium, Marko says of the Dutchman: "Max would be in a class of his own in any car. The 2020 Max cannot be compared to the 2023 Max - apart from the fact that the name is the same. He has become hugely sovereign. For me, Hamilton was always the master at reading races and how he managed his tyres. And Max is now on a par with that. If not even better because his basic speed is better. There has been a huge maturation process."

Verstappen also briefly showed in Belgium how strong he is at the moment. Indeed, he was eight-tenths faster than the competition in qualifying on a drying track. "If conditions are like that, he will put an AlphaTauri or a Haas, whatever car he has during qualifying, on the pole," Marko is adamant.