Marko: Verstappen moved clear of ex-Red Bull F1 team-mate Ricciardo
Max Verstappen's progress has moved him clear of his ex-Formula 1 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in both qualifying and race trim, according to Helmut Marko
Verstappen and Ricciardo were broadly equal in their time together at Red Bull from early 2016 to the end of last year, although Verstappen enjoyed a more impressive '18 campaign overall.
He matched Ricciardo, who has moved to Renault for 2019, with two races wins but scored a further nine podiums and Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko believes Verstappen established himself as a "clearly" better driver.
"There is specific data," Marko told Autosport. "In qualifying the gap to Ricciardo is greater. In the race he's also a bit faster.
"The strange thing is Max sometimes slides more, but still manages to keep the tyres alive.
"That has developed. When he came to us, it wasn't like that yet.
"In the second year [2017] Ricciardo dropped back a bit, but he recognised that and then he worked intensively with his physio and other things on himself, so he came close to Verstappen again.
"But in the second half of the 2018 season Verstappen has clearly moved away."
Marko said Red Bull would "mourn" Ricciardo because of how he pushed Verstappen on-track and the way they worked together off it.
However, he believes Verstappen proved in 2018 he had developed into a stronger driver with a fearsome reputation.
Verstappen ended the season fourth in the championship, ahead of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, but would have been third ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as well if not for his controversial Brazilian Grand Prix clash with Esteban Ocon.
The best championship finish of his short F1 career capped a strong recovery from Verstappen, who had started the year with race-ruining clashes with Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Ricciardo and a costly practice crash in Monaco.
"The basic problems were a certain lack of control and impatience," said Marko of how Verstappen arrested that slide.
"The point is Verstappen is fast enough. He doesn't have to constantly prove that he's the fastest.
"He doesn't need that. He already has an image in the duel that it's better not to mess with him."
Share Or Save This Story
Laura Villars: Who is the surprise late runner for FIA presidency?
Verstappen's Nordschleife adventure echoes his historic Suzuka F1 debut
Why Wolff's criticism of Antonelli is a change of tack for Mercedes
Piastri responds to Verstappen Sr comments, feels "very comfortable" standing up for himself
Verstappen family takes double victory as Jos wins on ERC debut
Why Verstappen isn't interested in hyping up Red Bull
Is Red Bull better or worse off one year after Horner's sacking? Our writers have their say
One year on: How Red Bull changed post-Horner
Why there are no quick fixes for all of Verstappen’s frustrations at Red Bull
Rivals block KTM request to open MotoGP engines due to breakdowns
Vinales after German GP woes: “I need support from team but all I get is criticism”
What we learned as MotoGP's title fight tightened in German GP
What would you like to ask Esteban Ocon?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments