
Marco: I work for two reasons, and one of them is Max
Helmut Marko has played such an important role in the fate and sporting career of Max Verstappen that the four-time world champion calls his mentor a second father.
in an interview with Dutch publication Formule1, the 81-year-old motorsport advisor to Red Bull talked about what he has in common with the Red Bull Racing driver and also emphasized that he considers himself the keeper of the team's spirit and traditions. It was Marco who in 2016 insisted on Verstappen's transfer to Red Bull Racing after just 23 races at Toro Rosso, and since then Max has scored 63 victories and won four titles. And when at the beginning of 2024 in the team called for a crisis situation, it was he who spoke in defense of Marco. "I have never felt such an attachment to the racer and I am ready to openly admit it, - said Helmut Marco. - Although you won't hear from me that I have become a second father to him. And although I will not even say how long I have worked in motorsport, but I know for sure that the first serious conversation with Max I had when he was 13 years old. Usually in the case of such conversations with a young racer conversation lasts from 10 to 15 minutes. But with Max, we talked for over an hour. And I'm still doing my job for two reasons, and one is Max. The second is to keep the spirit of Red Bull in the race team and to continue the work of Dietrich Mateschitz. At least I am trying to do that, because, of course, no one can really replace him. As for Max, he is a special person and very talented. He embodies all the values of Red Bull. Mateschitz in his time said: "We do not buy the stars, we raise them ourselves". And Max can be considered the perfect example of this: he is a sincere, sociable guy and a great athlete. It is a pleasure to work with such people. I have never felt such a strong attachment to a racer, although with Sebastian Vettel we also had a very good relationship".

Other articles






Marco: I work for two reasons, and one of them is Max
Helmut Marko in an interview with Formule1 spoke about what binds him to Max Verstappen, and also emphasized that he considers himself the guardian of the spirit and traditions of Red Bull Racing.