If “mental strength” makes the difference in 2024, Max Verstappen will emerge with his fourth consecutive World Drivers’ Championship. That’s the view of Red Bull advisor and Verstappen’s long-time mentor Dr Helmut Marko, who contrasted the Dutchman’s resilience with that of his main title challenger, Lando Norris.
“Norris, as we know, has certain weaknesses when starting” Marko told motorsport-magazin.com. “And as I read, he also has weaknesses in other areas. For example, he has to follow certain rituals on race day to be able to perform well.”
Norris, who is two years younger than his off-track friend Verstappen, has openly admitted that he is often so nervous before a race that he struggles to eat or drink. Marko joked that Red Bull might consider offering Norris a bite to eat at the next race: “In Barcelona, with their burnt kitchen, we proposed this to McLaren, but it was not accepted.”
For him, there is no doubt that Verstappen is the favorite for the title, despite his dwindling 52-point lead and the car’s difficulties: “He is the best, the fastest and, in terms of mental strength, the safest.”
He also believes McLaren needs more time to fully adapt to convert the car’s superior performance into trophies and titles: “You can see that McLaren has made a relatively large number of mistakes, both in terms of strategy and in the operational area.”
“You have to learn that first. We lost the world championship in 2009, even though we had the fastest car in the second half of the season, because we were not yet mature enough and established as that team.”
Former F1 driver Timo Glock told web.de that he sees more pressure on Verstappen’s shoulders, however: “The pressure is mainly on Verstappen because he has to manage the lead. For Norris, he just has to take each race as it comes and win them all. That’s all he can do.”
Glock agrees with Marko that the Dutchman has the advantage: “Max gained a lot of experience during the 2021 title fight against Lewis Hamilton. He knows how to handle tense and difficult situations.”
New Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto said last week he believed Red Bull’s cycle of success had come to an end: “Cycles have a beginning and an end, as always in F1.” he declared to Corriere della Sera. “And the Red Bull one is at the end.”
Glock agrees with this opinion: “There has been so much turmoil at Red Bull that we see they can cause even a top team to falter. Now they have to find the cause of the poor sporting development, whether it’s the outdated wind tunnel, the ground or something else.”
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