Helmut Marko admits Max Verstappen lost interest in F1 during Red Bull crisis

KANIKA SINGH RATHORE,

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max verstappen Interest in Formula One declined during red BullHelmut Marko has revealed his struggles at the start of the season.

Verstappen was more than 100 points behind the championship leader oscar piastri First f1During the summer break, during a tumultuous campaign that saw red bull sack team principal Christian Horner,

With Piastri and teammates lando norris Dominating the grid, McLaren won 12 of the first 15 races and looked set to win both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles.

But Verstappen has come into controversy again in recent weeks, Won three out of last four races and finished in the top two in all five Grands Prix since the break. The Dutch driver now trails Australia’s Piastri by just 40 points with five races remaining before this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix as he tries to win a fifth consecutive world title.

“Max, at a time when we were not competitive, I would say he lost a bit of interest,” Marko, a Red Bull adviser and close confidant of Verstappen, told Sky Sports.

Verstappen has brought himself back into the title race
Verstappen has brought himself back into the title race ,getty,

Verstappen enjoyed a brief foray into grand tourer racing, Winning a GT3 race last month with Britain’s Chris Lulham in the Nurburgring Endurance Series at the Nordschleife, and Helmut believes it was a useful distraction.

“He was more interested in GT racing, so to keep him in a good mood, I was talking about the Nürburgring and things like that. But now that the car is working, and after his success at the Nürburgring, I would say two tenths came from him because he is really motivated, he is enjoying. [F1]You can’t hear him yelling, he’s smiling – that’s what you need.”

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Verstappen will miss first practice He gave up his seat to British-Swedish reserve driver Arvid Lindblad for Friday’s opening session in Mexico.

The races will be followed by visits to São Paulo (9 November), Las Vegas (22 November) and Qatar (30 November) before the season finale in Abu Dhabi (7 December).

Piastri is on top with 346 pointsAhead of Norris who is 14 points behind at 332. But Verstappen is only 26 points behind Norris on 306.

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