Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko Draws a Comparison Between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko recently spoke about his ward Max Verstappen. He admitted that the young Dutchman “may be quicker”, but Mercedes driver and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton is still a better driver. 

In the recently concluded 2019 season, Verstappen stepped up to the plate as the team leader of Red Bull and earned the lion’s share of the points. The 22-year old even declared that the 2019 season was his best so far, and wins in Austria, Germany and Brazil were proof of it. In addition to that, he even recorded his first career pole in Hungary, as well as his second pole in Brazil.

During the 2019 season, both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton fought tooth and nail, and wheel to wheel. One standout race was in Hungary, while in Interlagos the 22-year old dominated the proceedings.

Interestingly, the Austrian served himself a reality check and confessed that Hamilton is still the far superior driver, even though he feels that Max is faster. He observed that the British driver understands what needs to be done and carefully reads tire conditions as well as other factors. 

When asked whether he would choose his driver as the best, he told Motorsport-Total.com: “No. Hitting the road [Max] may be quicker, but if you look at the complete package, Hamilton is still better. He is incredibly fast and has a lot of experience. We’ve seen that over and over again.”

“He isn’t at the top in the first, second or third free practice, but in qualifying, he is there and drives his best lap. His racing is impressive. Take Monaco, for example, he drove slowly in places where you can’t overtake anyway and thus saved his tires.”

So, it is for that reason that Red Bull and Max Verstappen will work even harder to try and beat Hamilton and wrest the championship from his and Mercedes’ grasps.