Marko on tipping point: "I saw Max in tears for the first time"

It has been eight years since Max Verstappen, then just sixteen years old, was announced as a regular driver at Scuderia Toro Rosso. He was just seventeen when he made his official Formula One debut during the first free practice session at Suzuka. Helmut Marko says the team deliberately chose to throw the Dutchman into the deep end.

Marko calls Suzuka "a circuit for tough guys", which would immediately show what material the young talent was made of. The Red Bull Racing advisor believed that with Verstappen he had found someone who would become the new standard, he said in conversation with Formule1.nl. That suspicion was confirmed when Verstappen took to the track in his first official F1 session, where he was immediately competitive.

The Austrian would have liked Verstappen to become the youngest World Champion ever, but unfortunately that didn't work out. "I think it's because of those miraculously fast engines from Ferrari in 2019 and then Mercedes kicked it up a notch, leaving us with Honda behind again. Otherwise, he might have become champion back then," Marko argued.

The 79-year-old from Graz has seen Verstappen grow tremendously since his debut at Toro Rosso. He has seen the Dutchman's impatience to drive at the limit every lap disappear. In doing so, he cites a crucial point in the reigning World Champion's career: after his crash in the final minutes of FP3 in Monaco 2018, something changed for the Dutchman. Damage to his gearbox forced him to miss out on qualifying, only to see teammate Daniel Ricciardo take pole. "That's when I saw Max in tears for the first time," Marko said.