The Norisring was the matchmaker
“We sat at a round table, over coffee, in a room full of Verstappens. Max was still a minor, so the whole family had to sign.” These words of Helmut Marko describe the conclusion of very hectic weeks in which 10 years ago Red Bull and Mercedes competed for the services of Max Verstappen, then a minor and competing in the European Formula 3 championship, the first season in single-seaters for Jos’ son after years as a dominator in the world of karting.
The weekend was the matchmaker Norisringthe sixth of the F3 calendar, which took place on 28-29 June. Max Verstappen won all three races held on the German street circuit – where his father Jos had also won twice in 1993 in F3 – definitively conquering the heart of Helmut Marko. “I called Jos straight away the next day, Max had been clearly faster than all the other drivers on the track in very difficult conditions, one section was wet, but then there were immediately other parts of the track completely dry”, Marko explained as reported by the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph. On that occasion Marko offered Jos Verstappen entry into the Red Bull youth programme and a commitment to F2 in 2015.
Marko, however, had to overcome the competition from Mercedes and Toto Wolff with whom the Verstappens had a meeting in the first weeks of July 2014. The only way to defeat the rivals and secure Max Verstappen was the final coup de théâtre, an ace up the sleeve that no one could matchor rather F1 immediately in 2015 at the wheel of Toro Rosso. “The higher the risk, the higher the gain and the fun. – added Marko – I informed Dietrich Mateschitz of the plan and he immediately agreed, then I called Franz Tost because we had to be ready for Max immediately. The first opportunity to have him drive was in Suzuka and in light of such a challenging circuit I had no doubts that it was the perfect place for his first free practice session”.
In 2015 Marko had to ‘endure’ inevitable criticism in the face of Verstappen’s mistakes and over-the-top behaviour on the track, but it was worth it: “They pointed me out as a criminalbut it was obvious that Verstappen would make mistakes. He would do it in F2 too, but I knew he was ready to race in F1 straight away. The official announcement of his F1 debut in 2015 came on August 18, but the contracts had been signed in the first days of the same month“. In that room full of Verstappen where Marko and Red Bull laid the foundations for the rebirth that materialized in 2021 with the conquest of the first world title by the Dutch driver.
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