Red Bull advisor on what stopped Max Verstappen from becoming youngest F1 world champion

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has said that Max Verstappen could have become the youngest F1 world champion in 2019. That eventually didn't happen for a multitude of reasons.

In an interview with formule1.nl, Marko said that Verstappen has reined in his mistakes and has calmed down since his title win last year. He said:

"It's a Verstappen, isn't it? If he doesn't like something, he will say so. That has not always helped us, like in Mexico with the stewards. But so are we. Max is now 24 and one of the highest-earning athletes in the Netherlands, but that hasn't changed him one bit. He lives his own life and has calmed down after his first world title."

Asked about Max Verstappen's failure to become world champion in 2019, Marko said that Ferrari and Mercedes were better, elaborating:

"So the impatience to want to drive on the limit every lap has disappeared. He knows: in qualifying and race, you have to be fast. Unfortunately, he failed to become the youngest world champion. I think it's because of Ferrari's amazingly fast engines in 2019 and Mercedes kicked it up a notch, putting us back behind with Honda."

The Red Bull advisor added that mistakes like the crash in Monte Carlo and a self-chosen pit stop in Austin also put paid to Verstappen's championship hopes that year. He said:

"Otherwise, he might have already won the championship by then. The mistakes he made in the beginning, like the crashes in Monte-Carlo in the same spot and that other highlight in Austin where he made a self-chosen pit stop, are gone."

Speaking about Verstappen's formative years, the Red Bull advisor said that the Dutch driver was deliberately given his first shot in F1 at Suzuka, as the track was designed by a Dutchman. Marko said:

"We deliberately chose to throw Max in the deep end. Suzuka was designed by a Dutchman, so a circuit for guys, huh. That was a nice challenge for Max. But I believed that with him we had found someone who would become the new normal. And in Suzuka we got the confirmation of what I already knew: Max did nothing wrong in that training, was competitive from the first moment he got into a Formula 1 car."

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How Max Verstappen's relationship with his father has evolved over the years

Helmut Marko also spoke about the evolution of Max Verstappen's relationship with his father, Jos. When Verstappen first joined F1, he was only 16 years of age. Jos' influence was significant at the time, but that has receded over the years.

As Max Verstappen has grown older, he has become his own man and developed his personality. Speaking about his evolution, Marko said:

"He signed his first Formula 1 contract when he was 16. It was clear that he needed to grow as a personality. I mean: he was still a child, and you still had Jos's dominance at the time. But that actually developed in parallel: the more independent Max became, the more Jos withdrew. In the beginning, this was not always an easy process. Max had two technical briefings: first with the team and then with Jos... It is clear that something like this cannot continue to go well."

He continued:

"He developed his own opinion relatively quickly and expressed himself very clearly in interviews. It's a Verstappen, isn't it? If he doesn't like something, he will say so."

Currently, Max Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc by 80 points as he looks good to win back-to-back titles.