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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was left surprised after team boss Christain Horner bantered with him about Helmut Marko's lost bet during the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying session.
Verstappen claimed another pole position in the 2023 season after he went fastest in the qualifying session on Saturday evening. However, he was surprised to know that team advisor Marko lost a €500 bet to Horner when the former claimed that Verstappen wouldn't finish the session on the front row.
Horner got onto the team radio to congratulate Max Verstappen on the feat and said:
"Well done mate. You have just won me €500 off Helmut, which is like getting blood out of a stone."
To which the Red Bull driver replied:
"Helmut lost the bet? What world are we living in."
Max Verstappen sarcastically lays down the gauntlet to Helmut Marko
Speaking more about the bet, Max Verstappen cheekily threw a shade at Helmut Marko, as he claimed that the Austrian would never bet against him in the future.
In his post-qualifying press conference, Max Verstappen said:
"Well, first of all, I think Helmut learned his lesson: never bet against me. Of course, it's always a bit of a gamble because you don't know. We already tried a lot of things on the car which didn't really seem to solve the problem. But I think GP stayed calm and he definitely went through a lot of options."
"And then with my feedback, he came up with a very good set-up for qualifying," he added. "So yeah, of course very, very happy with that but of course it's always a bit of a gamble. You're never 100% sure, and missing an FP1, I don’t know, probably would have still been tough to get it right for FP2/FP3."
However, Max Verstappen accepted that he had no clue how the car would behave heading into the main race on Sunday.
"I have no clue how the car will behave in the race," the Dutch driver continued. "I have not really done any long running, so I guess we’ll find out throughout the race. But, I mean, so far, most of the races we have been quite strong. Tomorrow, I just have to ease myself into it, I guess. A little bit."
Verstappen has had a spectacular season on the grid, winning 18 races so far in 2023.
