Red Bull's Helmut Marko pulls back the curtain on Max Verstappen's adaptability and how he built that trait

Red Bull's Helmut Marko has revealed that one of the reasons behind Max Verstappen's versatility as an F1 racer was his upbringing by his father, Jos. The Dutch driver is one of the rare talents on the grid who has not appeared fazed whenever he encounters a new challenge.

When Verstappen first led a race in his career in 2016 and had to fend off former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, it wasn't something that took him by surprise. The same could be said about how Verstappen approached his first title battle in 2021 against Lewis Hamilton.

The driver has shown an innate ability to not look out of place when tackling something for the first time. This has even carried over in his ability to be breathtaking in the rain. The driver does things in the wet weather that not many are capable of, as was evident in Brazil last season.

Talking to The Inside Track, Red Bull's Helmut Marko shared that a lot of Max Verstappen's brilliance comes down to his formative years and how his father, Jos Verstappen, molded him into this brilliant racer. He said:

"He had a tough time with his dad in go-karting. He trained him for all situations. You know, when you come to a new circuit, you have to be fast immediately. You have to go out in the rain, and things like that. But on top of that, he has unbelievable talent. He had his training, as I mentioned, from Jos, but also - the rest of the time - he is on a simulator."

He added:

"I can't really say how much it helps, but I believe whatever happens to him, he knows about it because he has seen it in one of the simulator situations. He's committed. He is just interested in racing. He does, besides that, nothing. He has quite a simple life, and all that together makes a very strong racing personality."

When Max Verstappen won a Grand Prix after sim racing on the night before the race

Last season, something that caught a lot of buzz was how Max Verstappen took part in a sim race on the night before the race on Sunday in Imola. The driver won the sim race and the Grand Prix on Sunday. At the same time, after a few races, the driver had a bad one in Hungary after a night of sim racing.

At that moment, the sim race became a major topic of discussion, with pundits speculating if that played a role in the bad race. Max Verstappen addressed it to Viaplay and revealed that he knew what was best for him while racing. He said:

“I also drove a 24-hour iRacing event online on Imola. I won the sim race and the Formula 1 race. Nobody talks about that. I slept for six hours. Great. So, I know what I can and cannot do.

He added:

“When I then drove another sim race in Hungary and it didn’t go well, there were stupid comments from everyone - like I hadn’t slept well and shouldn’t drive sim racing.”

Max Verstappen is now heading to the F1 Canadian GP with a deficit of 49 points to the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, as the dream to make it 5 in a row seems more and more improbable.