Helmut Marko believes Max Verstappen has “fully matured”

Max Verstappen is a lot calmer and fully matured, according to Dr Helmut Marko. Verstappen started his F1 career under Marko's tutelage and, at 24, is the fourth youngest F1 world champion of all time.

Marko is currently an advisor to Christian Horner and Red Bull in F1. He is also at the helm of the team's prestigious junior program, of which Verstappen himself is a graduate.

The Austrian spoke about Verstappen's temperament and how he has kept a lid on his aggression to find maturity beyond his years during an interview with AutoRevue. He said:

“Don’t forget, he’s still only 24. Max [Verstappen] has clearly matured. That also has a bit to do with the cord being cut because he was trained and shaped very well by his father [Jos Verstappen]. The relationship is still very close, but Max has his own opinions today. This maturation process was sometimes not so visible from the outside, but it quickly reached a peak because when something didn’t go right in training he always exploded. Today he is calm. We had technical problems a couple of times. Now he just sees the whole thing.”

Marko was also impressed with Verstappen's loyalty towards Red Bull whilst the team were using Renault power units. Marko went on to add, saying:

“What’s also admirable is that although we saw that we weren’t going to win a world championship with the Renault engine, he stood by the team. We always openly explained to him what our plans were when we started with Honda. He is also otherwise informed about the developments. That’s why I believe his statements when he says he feels very comfortable with us.”

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Max Verstappen reveals brand new helmet design for 2022 F1 season

Max Verstappen will be racing with a brand new lid in 2022. The reigning F1 drivers' world champion has swapped out his old design for a new one with gold replacing the usual red accents.

Verstappen unveiled the helmet in a social media video posted by Red Bull. Watch it here:

He will also move from his regular #33 to #1, as is the right reserved by the defending world champion.