Max Verstappen delivers Marko blow in ‘I know enough’ verdict

Max Verstappen has laughed off Helmut Marko’s optimism that the World title is still within reach, after all, he can “feel in the car” what’s going on.

Verstappen clinched his first race victory since May’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with victory in Saturday’s Sprint in Belgium, where he held off Oscar Piastri to win by seven-tenths.

Max Verstappen: “Helmut is not in the car!”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

It was a brief moment of celebration as, back in the car a few hours later for qualifying for the Grand Prix, Verstappen was more than three-tenths down on pole-sitter Lando Norris as he finished fourth.

Verstappen lines up on the grid at Spa trailing championship leader Oscar Piastri by 68 points as Formula 1 enters the second half of the F1 2025 championship.

Despite Verstappen’s deficit, Marko insisted at the previous race weekend, Silverstone, that the fight was not over.

“Fifth place ultimately for Max in Silverstone, a week earlier, the early retirement in Austria due to Antonelli’s ramming. That doesn’t make Verstappen’s title defence any easier, but we’re far from writing off the title,” proclaimed the Red Bull motorsport advisor.

Verstappen, however, doesn’t share Marko’s optimism.

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Put to him after qualifying at Spa that Marko says he can still win the title, the 27-year-old told the Dutch media: “Helmut is not in the car!

“I understand that you have to be positive about it. On the other hand, I am always very realistic about what I feel in the car. And when I look at certain onboards of other cars, I know enough.”

Verstappen will line up fourth on the grid, losing out to Norris, Piastri and also Charles Leclerc.

Two mistakes in Q3 cost the reigning World Champion, but Marko reckons he’d only have been third without his slip-ups.

“The conclusion is generally very, very good,” Marko told Sky Deutschland.

“We have four cars in the top ten, Max had two mistakes, a serious one in Turn 1 and a wobble in Turn 5. But it’s fine for that, and with the downforce, a third place would have been possible.

“So if the weather forecast is right and it’s raining, I think we can fight for victory.”

Once again, though, Verstappen isn’t as optimistic.

“Normally not, because McLaren is even stronger in the wet than in the dry, because the overheating is even bigger, of course, on an intermediate so they have that really well under control,” the Red Bull driver told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“For me, the goal is at least P3.”

“I mean, of course, if it’s wet and then it starts to dry up, there’s always a lot of chaos, then naturally there will be overtaking but, yeah, in the dry once you get stuck in a DRS train, it can be quite painful.

“I had that last year because I start a bit further back.

“Now, I think my battle if it’s wet or dry, I think will be with Charles [Leclerc]. So I don’t think if I get held up anyway, with Charles or whatever, then the McLaren is already 10 seconds of the road.

“So yeah, just need to target a podium. I think that’s realistic.”

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