Marko on Verstappen's success: "Max benefits from mistakes Jos made"

Jos Verstappen was for a long time the most successful Dutchman in Formula 1, with two podiums - until he prepared his son for the premier class of motor sport. Max Verstappen has now won his first world championship. Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko says that the mistakes Jos made in his career have been important in his son's learning process.

According to Marko Max benefits from the moments when things went wrong for Jos. He saw in Jos a successful Formula 1 driver who was fast, but also made some wrong decisions in his career. "He raised his son with all that knowledge, so he didn't make those mistakes," the Austrian told ServusTV.

Even after Max's Formula 1 debut, his father remained closely involved with his career, something that led to some tension in the beginning. "In the beginning it was a bit difficult," Marko admits. "Later on, he disappeared a bit more into the background." He now describes the relationship with the entire Verstappen family as 'harmonious'.

That good cooperation between Red Bull Racing and the Verstappen family is one of the reasons Max hopes to stay with the team for a long time to come. After the final race in Abu Dhabi he even stated that he would prefer to stay for another ten or fifteen years.