“Concentrate on F1”: Max Verstappen reveals Helmut Marko’s savage dig after Netherlands’s Euro match
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has revealed that Dr. Helmut Marko asked him to "concentrate on F1" since he was not a football expert. This happened after the reigning world champion attempted to discuss the UEFA Euro match between the Netherlands and Austria.
Verstappen's dominance on the F1 grid is an easy fit to show his expertise in racing. But it seems the Dutch driver also takes an interest in football. He revealed that he was trying to predict the outcome of the Euro match between the Netherlands and Austria when Red Bull's advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, asked him to keep his focus on F1. Verstappen said:
"I had of course said that that the Dutch team would win. He (Marko) said: 'it turns out that you are not a football expert, so you concentrate on Formula 1.'"
Eventually, Austria secured a 3-2 win over the Netherlands thanks to Marcel Sabitzer's 80th-minute goal. The final score was 2 (Netherlands) to 3 (Austria).
In recent times, Max Verstappen has been the most dominant driver on the grid. After he won his first championship in 2021, the team was able to develop an extremely competitive car in the 2022 season with the new aero regulations. They went on to win both championships in 2022 and 2023.
However, the situation seems to be changing for Red Bull in 2024. McLaren and Ferrari are extremely close in competition, and although Verstappen has managed to win seven of the ten races so far, the challenge could get more difficult as the season proceeds.
Max Verstappen on the current state of the RB20: "I don't think I can complain"
Although the three-time world champion has remained comfortably competitive in the RB20 this season, his teammate Sergio Perez seems to be losing out. After finishing P4 in Miami, his performance has been rather disappointing. He was P8 in Imola, followed by two retirements in Monaco and Canada, and was again P8 in Spain.
While this might reflect a weakness in the performance of the car compared to Red Bull's competitors, Max Verstappen stated that he has nothing to complain about. He said:
"If you generally look at the gaps between the two drivers, I don't think I can complain," GP Blog quoted him as saying.
"I don't have the idea that things are running a lot less on the other side of the garage. The way our car is now - because it's all so close - it all has to be perfect to get to the ultimate result," he added.
Max Verstappen continues to lead the driver's world championship this season. However, there are speculations that the team might lose the constructor's title if Perez does not continue to improve. In what was a shocking development, he recently signed a two-year contract extension with the team.