Helmut Marko has explained the tight bond he enjoys with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, as he also detailed why he thinks he is "guarding" the spirit of the team.
Marko promoted Verstappen to Red Bull after just 23 races in 2016, with the Dutchman going onto win 63 races and four world titles, shattering a host of records along the way, as he also defended Marko's position within the team when it was threatened at the start of '24.
Revealing details of his first chat with Verstappen, Marko explained the deep bond he enjoys with the quadruple-world champion.
"I have never felt so connected to a driver, and I admit that directly," Marko told Formula1.NL.
"Whether I am his second father, you won't hear me say that. Look, I don't know how long I have been working in this sport. What I do know is the first time I had a serious conversation with Max, he was 13.
"Normally in such a conversation, I talk to a young driver for 10 to 15 minutes. With Max, it was more than an hour.
"I still do this work for two reasons: one is Max."
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Marko 'guarding' Mateschitz
Le Mans winner Marko was appointed as Mateschitz's right-hand-man at Red Bull when it entered F1 in 2005, and oversaw the driver development programme that produced the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen.
Mateschitz died after a long illness in October 2022, with Red Bull going onto win its first constructors' title since 2013 the day after his passing over the United States Grand Prix weekend, with his spirit something Marko feels he is "guarding."
"The other is to guard the spirit of Red Bull and Dietrich Mateschitz in the race team, at least I try to, because there is no one who can really replace Mateschitz, of course," he continued.
"As for Max, he is a great talent and a special person. He is everything Red Bull stands for. Mateschitz used to say: we don't buy stars, we make stars. Max is the perfect example of that: direct, approachable and a great sportsman.
"It's great to work with someone like that. I have never felt so close to a driver before, although with Sebastian, I was also very close."
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