Red Bull chief: "Max is clearly the benchmark on all fronts"
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- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull Racing has made such a good start to the season because it has developed a competitive car and has Max Verstappen at its disposal. According to the advisor of the Austrian racing team there is no better combination on the grid at the moment. He told the German media.
Hamilton less than Verstappen
"It's definitely the best combination in the field, that's for sure," Marko says at Die Presse. "Especially when you look at Verstagen's young age, he is 24 years old, everything speaks for him. Hamilton is an exceptional driver, with 37 years of life experience and seven titles to his name, he also has a lot of experience in tyre management. But when it comes to speed, Max is clearly the benchmark on all fronts."
Red Bull knows how important it is to keep scoring lots of points. Verstappen used to take unnecessary risks, but the 24-year-old has started to drive more sensibly. Marko says that in preliminary discussions he can sometimes stress that a second place can also be sufficient if a competitor is simply faster, but blood is thicker than water, Verstappen says.
"In Canada we were not sure if we could win. The first advice we gave him was to go for a certain number of points, but in the final laps it became exciting. He just wanted to win," said Marko, who then saw Verstappen (successfully) defend his leading position tooth and nail against a faster Sainz. Despite this, it is certain that the reigning world champion is making smarter choices when driving.
Verstappen maximises at Silverstone
In Britain on Sunday, Verstappen scored important points, despite much damage. With a seventh place finish, he was able to add six important points to his World Championship tally. At Red Bull, they all know: even in lesser weekends, points must be scored in order to ultimately stand with the world title(s) at the end of the season.