Marko: 'It was clear that Verstappen had to grow as a personality'.

Helmut Marko has been working with Max Verstappen for years now. In conversation with Formule1.nl the Austrian looks back on the early days of the Dutchman, in which the reigning world champion had a lot of work to do.

While Red Bull Racing had no doubt about Verstappen's talent, he could certainly improve in other areas. For example, Marko remembers how the Dutch driver had to work on his personality to become stronger.

"At 16, he signed his first Formula One contract," Marko says. "It was clear that he had to grow as a personality. I mean, he was still a child and you still had the superiority of Jos at that time. But that actually developed in parallel: the more independent Max became, the more Jos withdrew."

While Mercedes' dominance was palpable for years, Verstappen was given time behind the scenes to develop further. It proved to be effective, as he suddenly managed to challenge Lewis Hamilton and even win the world title in 2021. This season he is once again on course to win the world championship.