Marko mourns death of key Red Bull figure after championship win

Helmut Marko has expressed his sadness at the fact that Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz has not been able to see Max Verstappen's serial success in 2023.

The Austrian died aged 78 in October last year, having played a crucial part of the team's existence in the sport.

Since then, Red Bull have gone on to scale new heights, winning 21 of the 22 races during the 2023 season, with Verstappen claiming 19 of those on his way to a third consecutive world championship title.

It has been a record-breaking season for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, and indeed for Verstappen, who now holds the record for the most consecutive Formula 1 wins, the most victories in a single season and plenty of others.

His latest victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has taken him past the last Red Bull world champion, Sebastian Vettel, into third on the all-time list of race winners.

Verstappen has another gear

Speaking after the race, Marko told Sky Germany quite how proud he is of the dominant Dutchman, and the team in general.

"It's something we never hoped or dreamed of," he said.

"This season has topped everything we have ever achieved. I have to repeat again, after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, that he was no longer able to witness this triumph and this performance from both the team and our drivers, but especially Max Verstappen, is extremely sad.

"It is his absolute will to win. He can push himself to the limit in any situation. We were informed that there might be a penalty because of the open visors and then he was told to get a ten second gap [to P2] and then he immediately went for it.

"He does this with confidence and ease, but he has made the crucial step in tyre management; he can drive incredibly fast and at the limit without wearing down the tyres. He practically reads how far he can go, how hard he can push on the tyres and goes for it.

"There was another step in yesterday's qualifying that wasn't actually expected and that's why I don't think we've seen the zenith yet."

READ MORE: Verstappen sees off early challenge before sealing CRUSHING Abu Dhabi GP win

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