Red Bull Content Pool
General
Marko rubs it in with Wolff: 'Then I don't know what Toto was looking at'
Max Verstappen was picked up by Red Bull Racing at the end of 2014 and put straight into a Toro Rosso the following year. Helmut Marko dared with the then only 17-year-old driver. Toto Wolff did not dare at the time and Marko rubbed this in his compatriot's face after the Canadian Grand Prix.
In 2014, Verstappen competed for Van Amersfoort Racing in Formula 3. In 33 races, he grabbed 10 wins and 16 podiums but had to settle for third place in the championship. Esteban Ocon won that year with 478 points, and Verstappen collected 411. Seven DNFs killed off the Dutchman, while Ocon was also driving for a more competitive team.
Wolff indicated in an interview last week that it was difficult to assess how good Verstappen really was at that time. After all, it was Ocon who ran the show tal with a title. The Mercedes team boss certainly saw that Verstappen was talented, but: "It was not clear that he was that good at that stage," he said.
Marko on Wolff's statement
"His talent would not have been visible enough in Formula 3... But then I don't know what exactly Toto has been looking at, because when I saw Max busy for a while at the Norisring, it was already completely clear to me that he had something special," Marko is quoted by Algemeen Dagblad as saying after Verstappen's sixth win in 2023.
In Germany, at the Norisring, Verstappen then took victory in all three races in 2014. And not just any old way, in tricky and changing conditions, Verstappen was a second a lap faster than the rest of the F3 field. It eventually earned Verstappen an F1 contract for 2015. And the rest is history.