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Tight Lipped Helmut Marko Once Made an Exception for Max Verstappen by Breaking Golden “20 Minutes” Rule

Published 12/25/2022, 9:00 AM EST

At the very first glance, you know Max Verstappen isn’t your run-of-the-mill Formula 1 driver. In fact, ever since he sat in a Formula 1 car, he’s proven that time and again. That being said, Helmut Marko needed to know this before he strapped Verstappen into one of Red Bull‘s four cars on the grid. Back in 2019, when Verstappen was on the verge of blooming into a legitimate title contender, Marko opened up about the very first time he met the Dutch lion. And as the theme would continue, he had even Marko glued to his seat for over an hour!

It’s no secret that for Marko, the only way you could get into his good books is by going fast, and we mean fast! But for him, Verstappen just had something about him that made him abandon his sacred 20-minute rule. In an exclusive interview with F1-insider.com, he barred all.

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He was asked, “Jos Verstappen said that you talked to Max for an hour and a half at your first meeting: what do you ask in such a first meeting?” To which the Austrian replied, “I usually talk for a maximum of 20 minutes. But the conversation with Max was different. It’s just how it turned out.”

Only One Driver Can Infiltrate Max Verstappen “No Man’s Land” as His True Equal in F1

Well, Marko didn’t just have the inside line on Verstappen in that interview. In a rare moment of candidness, he compared the men under his tutelage to the greatest driver in the history of Formula 1.

The time when Helmut Marko compared Max Verstappen & Co. to Ayrton Senna

Germany 2019 will go down in the annals of Formula 1 history as one of the greatest races ever. But apart from the entertainment quotient, seemingly welled up with pride after how his Red Bull proteges performed. Marko is dedicated to the Red Bull junior program, and they are, to him.

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In the very same interview, he was asked about Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Daniil Kvyat finishing on the podium. All, of course, are current or former Red Bull drivers. He said, “Remember, Albon was also among the first six. Certainly, I was fascinated by this unique race when I was standing under the podium.”

“The last time I saw such a dramatic race with such outstanding driver performance was at Donington in 1993 when Ayrton Senna won in the rain so well.”

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Written by:

Anirban Aly Mandal is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. In his pursuit for a Bachelor's degree in Law from Symbiosis Law School, he has written multiple academic papers centered around the domain of motorsports. Not only that, but due to his love for F1, he aims to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world some day.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

Tight Lipped Helmut Marko Once Made an Exception for Max Verstappen by Breaking Golden “20 Minutes” Rule

The time when Helmut Marko compared Max Verstappen & Co. to Ayrton Senna

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