Verstappen imposed 'psychological humiliation' on his rivals in Brazil, reckons Marko
Reflecting on the long season in 2024, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko highlighted the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where the now four-time world champion Max Verstappen showed a "psychological humiliation" towards his rivals.
Having clinched the victory in all but one race in 2023 in an utterly dominant year for Red Bull, the Milton Keynes-based outfit started this year's campaign in a similarly dominant fashion.
Max Verstappen won the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before retiring from the lead in Round 3 in Australia with a brake issue. However, he then went on to win in Japan, China, Imola, Canada and Spain to clinch seven victories in the opening ten races.
However, he then failed to win in the following ten rounds, but the São Paulo Grand Prix saw the Dutch driver emerge victorious in wet weather conditions. The Las Vegas Grand Prix saw Verstappen clinch his fourth F1 title with two rounds still left in the season
Reflecting on the long season in his column on Speedweek, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko stated that Verstappen has been the strongest driver mentally this year.
"A long season has come to an end in Abu Dhabi, and Max Verstappen has once again shown his class and defended his world championship title. Max has matured further this year. He was the best mentally, as a driver and in one-on-one combat, and he has learned to only achieve what is necessary.
"If anyone had said at the beginning of the year that he would wave Lewis Hamilton and the two Ferraris past because he was thinking about the world championship, that would have been declared nonsense. But he did it because he knows what he has to concentrate on.
"In Brazil, he showed on a wet track what he can do under the most difficult conditions. It was a masterpiece, because it was the World Championship, and the pressure on his shoulders was correspondingly great. He had already put in a really good performance in 2016 in Interlagos under similar conditions. But he made a few mistakes back then.
"This time he made no mistakes, and that shows how strong his nerves are. The 17 laps he completed at the end of the race were a psychological humiliation for the competition; he outclassed everyone and proved once again why he is one of the best in the sport.
Speaking of the Verstappen's perception, Marko added: "That is our top priority, and his top priority. We are not concerned with the ratings of journalists or any degree of popularity. The world championship title is awarded based on points, and these speak clearly for Max.
"It is true that there is not necessarily an objective balance in the English media. But I think that the phenomenon that always plays a role is that the person who comes on the scene as a new, potential star or hunter enjoys more sympathy than the established champion. But Max doesn't care, he always says what he thinks and shows his emotions, and I think that's right," concluded the Austrian.
