Helmut Marko said Max Verstappen found more enjoyment in endurance racing than Formula 1 last year, a remark that adds to the sense that Red Bull’s four-time drivers' champion is looking well beyond the sport’s usual rhythm. Marko also said he watches Verstappen’s sports car activities online and that it is impressive to see how the cars carve their way through the field.
The comments land at a moment when Verstappen’s future is under fresh scrutiny. Marko said he feared Red Bull would not mount a serious championship challenge this year, a concern that sharpens the pressure on a team that has struggled to recapture its dominant form under Laurent Mekies with Isack Hadjar partnering Verstappen. For a driver who has won 71 grand prix races and whose name has been tied to retirement speculation at the end of 2026, even a passing comment from the man who spotted him early carries weight.
Marko said he first saw Verstappen’s talent in 2015, when he offered the Dutch driver an F1 seat for that season. Since then, Verstappen has become one of the defining figures of the era, but the Austrian said he is not in contact with him often and is too far away to judge what comes next properly. That distance matters because it leaves the public guessing at a time when Verstappen is focusing attention on the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and speaking more openly about his dissatisfaction with Formula 1’s current direction, especially its emphasis on entertainment over pure racing.
Marko did not try to dress that up. “I watch everything online. It’s always impressive to see how they carve their way through the field,” he said of Verstappen’s sports car outings. Asked about the Dutchman’s mood, he said: “That was already the case last year.” On Red Bull’s prospects, he was blunter still: “I fear it won’t happen this year,” he said of a serious title challenge.
The friction point is obvious. Marko can see Verstappen’s pull toward endurance racing, but he does not see enough of him to read the future with confidence. “No. That’s why I can’t give you any news about him,” he said when asked about contact between them. “I’m too far away to judge that properly. From the outside, I don’t give advice about that.” That leaves Red Bull in a position where its most important driver is giving hints, not answers, and the team around him is still trying to prove it can win the argument on track.
For now, the clearest read is that Verstappen’s interest in racing outside Formula 1 is no side note. It is becoming part of the story around him, and it sits alongside the uncertainty over whether Red Bull can give him a season worth staying for.