Verstappen costs Marko money: 'That was a bet with Helmut'
F1 News
It was the perfect qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Max Verstappen. The world champion took the final pole of the season, costing Helmut Marko 500 euros. The consultant has to pay that money to team boss Christian Horner, who had assumed Verstappen would 'just' get on the front row of the grid. Apparently, Marko did not expect that after the tricky free practice sessions.
"Helmut lost a bet? What world are we living in?", Verstappen wondered on the board radio.
Once out of the car, Verstappen himself said he was rather surprised by his supremacy: "Very weird. We definitely improved the car for qualifying and from lap one it all seemed a bit more together and we could definitely push more. Around here already if you have little slides it can cost you a lot of lap time and that is what was happening in practice. But in qualifying it was a bit more connected."
Sunday will be the last race for the RB19, which brought Red Bull and Verstappen much success. Emotional? "I have no clue how good we are going to be in the race, normally it's quite decent. It has been a very special season, we have been enjoying it a lot and we are very proud what we have achieved so far this year."