08 April 2024 , 09:08
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Helmut Marko has rubbished Toto Wolff 's claim that Max Verstappen has already got the 2024 title sewn up.
Verstappen recorded his third victory from the opening four races of the season with a comfortable win at the Japanese Grand Prix. He might have a perfect record had he not suffered a brake fire while leading the Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull were comfortable on their way to a third one-two finish of the year already. In contrast, Mercedes struggled for pace and had to settle for seventh and ninth place on another miserable day for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
And team boss Wolff is already certain that Verstappen is not going to be troubled by anyone in his bid to secure a fourth-straight F1 drivers' title. "No-one is going to catch Max this year," he declared after the Suzuka race.
"His driving and the car are just spectacular. You can see the way he manages the tyres and basically this season now is best of the rest. If I was to look from a pure sporting point of view it is P1 what matters, not P2, P3 or P4 but this is the reality that we are facing at the moment.
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"We're trying to do the best out of this new reality and that is to beat our competitors whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job and setting the benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again."
Asked for his view by OE24, Red Bull adviser Marko laughed off the suggestion the title is already secure. "Please leave me alone!," he responded. "We've only done four races, 20 more to come. In Melbourne we saw how quickly everything can change. Ferrari is strong and reliable, we can't write them off yet."
He did, though, agree with Wolff's assessment of Verstappen's driving, adding: "We have a good car, but then Max makes the difference again. Everything was clear in Suzuka, but then Max drove this incredible fastest lap on worn tires. Not for fun and games, but to get his message across, 'Hello, the rest of you are only there to come second!'"
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also downplayed Wolff's comments about the title, telling reporters: "It's very early to write off the year - there are still 20 races to go. I've learned not to listen too much to what Toto says over the years.
"It was great to bounce back after the DNF in Australia, after such a great start to the season, it was important to bounce back quickly. I think that we've done that emphatically here at Suzuka this weekend. It's a great performance."