Red Bull's Helmut Marko opens up on his search for the next Max Verstappen

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko answered queries on his search for the next Max Verstappen and said that the Dutch driver is unique and they weren't looking for him. The team's driving academy has made waves because its existence has yielded plenty of brilliant drivers on the grid.

The story started with Sebastian Vettel being one of the first graduates to hit the heights of the sport. The German became a four-time champion with the team and retired as a legend of the sport. Verstappen's career is following a similar trajectory. He joined the academy in 2014 and was on the F1 grid in 2015.

In 2016, Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull, and from that point onwards, he has been an integral part of the team. The junior program has introduced a few more key drivers that are on the grid right now. Having said that, the influx of new talent from the academy has waned in the last few years.

We've not had a breakout star from Red Bull for a while. In an interview with Grandprix247, Marko was asked how the search for the next Verstappen was going, and the Austrian said that there could not be another such driver.

The Austrian touched on how Verstappen was a unique case that doesn't happen often. On the other hand, he did talk about Arvid Lindblad, the young Red Bull junior who has impressed in F3 this season. He said,

“First of all, I’m not looking for a new Max because Max is unique. And it will be difficult for anyone to be his teammate. We have a situation where our second driver unfortunately isn’t performing as he should. So we will have an evaluation in the summer break of what we are going to do."

He added,

“Lindblad is only 16 years old. So it’s difficult to say but you saw the race at Silverstone, the Feature Race where he had enormous pressure from Mini is his second year and two years older with far more experience. He held him off and in the end, Mini cooked his tyres trying to catch him."

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Arvid Lindblad the next big driver after Max Verstappen?

Helmut Marko gave a glowing recommendation for the Red Bull junior. He talked about how, just like Liam Lawson, Lindblad seems to be very mature for his age. Marko was, however, certain that both Lawson and Lindblad needed to spend multiple years in RB before being ready for Red Bull. He said,

"For his age, he’s very mature and a lot of confidence like Liam Lawson. It might be the best thing to give them first a year at VCARB and then move up to Red Bull Racing. But they have, of course, to get more ready and they can’t go straightaway and say we will beat Max."

He added,

"That was a mistake, for example, Pierre Gasly thought he was as good as Max. Maybe Lawson or Lindblad will be ready in two or three years for Red Bull Racing."

It is fair to say that Max Verstappen is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and we can't expect Red Bull to produce one frequently. Having said that, the team will be eager to find someone who can take the mantle from Verstappen in the future.