Helmut Marko thinks Max Verstappen could challenge Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the win in F1 Dutch GP

Red Bull's Helmut Marko thinks Max Verstappen could potentially challenge Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the win in the F1 Dutch GP. The claim comes after the Dutch driver secured a top 3 starting position for the race and qualified behind the dominant duo.

The race weekend began with Red Bull on the back foot for the Dutch driver. The car was not in the right window, and Max Verstappen was struggling to keep up with the McLaren pair, and the gap was huge.

By qualifying, however, Max Verstappen had been able to reduce the gap significantly. Unlike FP1, FP2, and FP3, where the McLaren duo was more than half a second faster than the Dutchman, qualifying saw Verstappen cut down the gap.

By the time the drivers did their final laps, Max Verstappen was fastest in the second sector, the one where he had been the most vulnerable all weekend. Talking to Sky Germany, Red Bull's Helmut Marko had a slightly different take on where Max Verstappen found himself, as the Austrian felt that the cutting down of the gap was a sign of how much the car had improved.

Talking about how Max Verstappen's pace was more or less on par with the McLaren duo on used tires, Marko claimed that maybe the Dutch driver could challenge Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the win. He said,

“This morning we were still eight tenths behind and now we’ve only lost sector 1, otherwise we’d be neck and neck. I believe what we did [to improve the car] will also work tomorrow, because Max knows how and where he can or must drive fast. We were on a par with McLaren, especially on used tyres, so maybe there will be a surprise.”

Max Verstappen continues to be downbeat about his chances

Unlike Helmut Marko's lofty claims, Verstappen was staying more or less grounded in what he expected from the race. When questioned about his expectations from the race, the Dutchman said that he would be hoping to secure a podium by keeping the drivers behind at a safe distance. The driver didn't expect that he would be a factor at the front, as he said,

"It’s a bit unknown, but I do think that what we have on the car should be more stable. But this season in general, our race pace has not been the best in terms of if you compare it to a Qualifying lap. But I just hope that at least we can keep the guys behind us literally behind us in the race. What happens in front of me, I have no control over. I’ll just try to do the best I can from my side."

Verstappen has won three of four races that have been run on this track since it came back to the calendar. It would be interesting to see what we would have in store, as a motivated Max can pull off something special in an F1 car.