Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko praised Max Verstappen after the Dutchman won his fourth F1 world championship title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Starting from fifth, Verstappen showed good pace early in the race and worked his way up to second, before dropping back to fifth in the final moments.
Lando Norris failed to match the Red Bull driver’s pace early in the race, with Marko calling Verstappen and the team’s performance a “tactical masterstroke”.
“At Monza I was skeptical for the title. But luckily we managed to turn the tide after Italy. Max maximized his points since and during the race, it was a tactical masterstroke.”
“He showed what speed was possible in the early stages, but then he turned his attention to the championship and brought his car home in a sovereign manner, with great style.”
What impressed Marko most about Verstappen’s title defense this season was how he remained competitive even when the RB20 wasn’t the fastest car.
“There were a few races where the car wasn’t the fastest, but it still won.”
“And Monza was definitely the lowest point, but he still tamed it and made the most of it.”
“Not a single accident. And in the phase where we were sometimes only fourth in terms of speed, he still managed to stabilize the lead gap every time.”
The downside is clearly the manufacturers’ title which has almost disappeared.
“We need to have two drivers who finish in the points. Max is more than 200 points ahead of Sergio.”
“For now, the main thing was to win the championship for Max, but for our employees it is a disappointment because they will not receive their bonuses, because they depend on our position in the constructors’ championship.
“We will make decisions after Abu Dhabi. There will be a meeting after the last race and the result of that meeting will be presented to the shareholders and they will then decide what the driver situation will look like for both teams for next year.”
Horner seems to be gradually giving up on supporting Perez…
“Whatever happens regarding the pilots… We have pilots under contract and pilots with options that remain between the company and the pilots involved. And there is nothing to say about that today . But if there was something to say, I would tell you.”
“I mean, obviously, just one point for Checo…. It was a good race from him, a good comeback. But the problem is that we’re starting from too far away with him, in a race where McLaren were weak. We would have liked to take more points from them today.”
