Max Verstappen could 'walk away' from F1 before breaking Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton's championship record - Helmut Marko

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko reckons Max Verstappen will walk away from the sport before breaking Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton's record of seven world titles.

Talking to Sky Sports F1, Marko said that he never thought Schumacher would win seven titles. After he did so, the mark was thought to be virtually unbeatable until Hamilton happened.

Marko added that he also didn't expect Hamilton to go level with Schumacher at the end of the 2020 season. The Austrian said that there's a lot that goes into winning seven F1 titles, something Verstappen might not want to do. He said:

"I thought that Michael never could be broken, and then Lewis did the same amount. I think there has to be so many factors together so that you can achieve something. He’s not the type of those who goes for records, I think one day (he) says ‘fine’ and then will walk away."

Marko applauded Verstappen for his maturity in dealing with the early season adversity.

The Red Bull driver was 46 points behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after the Australian GP, registering two DNFs in three races. Marko also talked about the race in Hungary and Spa where Verstappen was not too aggressive at the start but kept a calm head. Marko said:

“I always remember him saying (when he was) 46 (points) behind, he needs 33 or 36 races to catch up. It didn’t take so long fortunately, but he’s far more relaxed. He’s a much more mature driver. Like in Budapest or Spa in the first corner, first lap. I thought ‘who is in this car?’ "

He continued:

"The lead car passes, and once he is in free air, he shows his guts. So it’s a big step, and I think it’s not the end what I’ve seen from his performance. That’s Verstappen. He was just nursing again (in Japan)."

Verstappen is now a two-time champion with four races to go, after winning a rain-curtailed Japanese GP last weekend.

---

Red Bull were not sure Max Verstappen clinched championship in Japan

Helmut Marko said that Red Bull were not confident Verstappen had won the championship in Japan. They were not clear on the points allocation and were even looking to pit the driver to bag the extra point for the fastest lap. Marko said:

“We were thinking of making a pit stop so we have fastest lap, because in our calculations, we needed it for the Championship. But then we saw (it was) too risky with the conditions, two second margins. We only found out (once) the speaker was saying calculations of the World Championship, because our statistics said we are one point behind so big surprise but a very nice surprise.”

The Dutchman now has his eyes set on the record for most wins (13) in an F1 season, having won 12 times in 2022.