Marko Expects Verstappen To Increase His Championship Lead

Saturday, 05 October 2024 at 11:05

Helmut Marko said he expects Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen to increase his lead in the Drivers' Championship with the upcoming upgrade.

Max Verstappen is coming into the season's last six Grand Prix weekends with a rather comfortable lead in the Drivers' Championship - 52 points ahead of Lando Norris in second place.

However, this lead was much, much bigger six races ago. In the last six Grand Prix weekends, Norris outperformed the Dutchman on five occasions.

Red Bull has certainly not been the fastest car for quite a while, but the team is planning to introduce a significant upgrade package during the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

The Austrian team's motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, highlighted how the primary goal at the moment is to give Max Verstappen a predictable car. He told Sports.de:

"We have to win again on our own. We have to give Verstappen a car in which he can show off his abilities. He can drive a car to the extreme limit."

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"He can't use a car that understeers. What bothered him most was that the car oscillated between understeering and oversteering and was unpredictable for him."

The 81-year-old is convinced that as soon as the Red Bull F1 car is predictable, "Max will be driving in his own class again."

On the other hand, it should be pointed out that McLaren also isn't standing still. The team already has a considerable pace advantage, which manifested itself at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, where Lando Norris finished more than 20 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Nevertheless, former F1 driver and 1996 Champion Damon Hill asserted that Verstappen's position—the one in the lead being chased—is better than Norris's, who has a faster car but also a big gap to close.

While some experts like Guenther Steiner and Nico Rosberg believe this Championship battle could go down to the last Grand Prix race of the season, Marko confidently suggested that Verstappen could even increase his lead - which means the Championship would be decided already in Las Vegas.