Verstappen never feared Marko: 'If he called too early, I didn't answer'

Max Verstappen has a very close relationship with Helmut Marko. Unlike other members of the Red Bull Junior Team, he was never afraid of Red Bull Racing's stern advisor. He, therefore, had a remarkable strategy for Marko's early phone calls: just don't answer.

Verstappen says he has a very open and honest relationship with Marko. "Of course nowadays we can tell each other everything. But I was never like other juniors, who were downright scared of Helmut. I remember him calling me at 7.30 or 8.00 in the morning. I just didn't answer," he told Motorsport-Magazin.com. At some point, according to Verstappen, Marko accepted that he would call back at a later time.

The two communicate with each other in German. In interviews, therefore, Verstappen can be heard speaking a fair bit of German, but that was not always the case. "He made it clear very early on that we talk in German. At that time, it was still very difficult for me to communicate in German," says the Dutchman.

"Once I had to give an interview for Austrian Servus TV and he said: no, Max is doing it in German. The interviewer thought to himself: What the hell? And I thought to myself: Sh*t. But it's good, because it's more personal when you speak to the big bosses in their own language," Verstappen said.