Marko was unsure: 'Couldn't deliver Verstappen a championship winning car'

Max Verstappen signed a mega contract in March that will see him drive at Red Bull Racing until 2028. Advisor Helmut Marko said in conversation with Formule1.nl Marko admits that he was not always sure about a longer stay of the Dutchman.

We will be able to enjoy the Verstappen-Red Bull combination in Formula 1 for years to come. The 24-year-old driver signed a new contract in March that could well be the best Formula 1 contract ever. Marko let it be known that he is not sure if that is true, because he himself does not know what Lewis Hamilton's contract looks like.

In conversation with Formule1.nl Marko does let it be known that he was occasionally afraid that Verstappen would leave the Austrian team. "When we couldn't deliver him a championship winning car in the long run, I was afraid he might go somewhere else," Marko admits.

That championship-winning car Marko talks about finally came in 2021. After a very intense fight with seven-time world champion Hamilton, Verstappen could call himself world champion after 22 Grands Prix. Immediately after the race in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen announced on the onboard radio that he wanted to continue with Red Bull for another ten to fifteen years.