According to Red Bull’s top advisor Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen needs ‘some help from McLaren’ if he wants to secure the world title this year. The Austrian emphasizes that it’s not impossible for the Dutchman to become champion, but doing so on his own will be quite challenging. Marko confirms that Red Bull has made a significant comeback in the last race weekends, but this turnaround came a bit too late.
After Verstappen’s victories in Monza and Baku, many Formula 1 fans started crunching numbers; what did the Dutchman need to clinch his fifth title? The gap to World Championship leader Oscar Piastri remains substantial, but for the four-time world champion, nothing is impossible. Verstappen himself indicated that a new victory in Singapore was crucial for his title ambitions. In the end, he had to settle for second place, behind George Russell. Marko suggests in the run-up to the GP of Austin that Verstappen still has a chance at the title, but McLaren needs to lend a hand for that to happen.
“Since Zandvoort, we have always been fighting for P1, P2,” Marko told the media in Texas. “So, we’re heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, this turnaround came a bit late.” He added: “All those discussions about average speed, temperatures, and so on, they don’t matter anymore. We’re just there – if we fall behind in one corner, it’s about thousandths of a second. It’s not like before when we had to concede half a second in one sector.”
‘Turnaround Came Too Late’
“This shows that our car has made a significant leap forward, and Max Verstappen is naturally making the most of it,” explained Marko. “However, if we had made this turnaround earlier, the championship would have looked different. We can’t do it on our own; we do need help from McLaren. But that doesn’t make it impossible,” he grinned. In reality, Verstappen only needs one more misstep from McLaren to close the 63-point gap to Piastri. One dropout can make a world of difference.
The sprint qualification on Friday proved that the Limburger can compete with both McLaren drivers – and even beat them. Marko saw how Verstappen improved on his rivals by 0.071 seconds. “It was fantastic,” the Austrian responded enthusiastically. “In sector three, he effectively took pole position. I think he slid a bit too much in turn one, but it was an incredible lap, especially the third sector. It’s up to him, and he’s performing. During the sprint race, it’s going to get even hotter. This usually works in McLaren’s favor, but I hope that Verstappen stays in the lead.”
