Helmut Marko says Max Verstappen is "the fastest driver Red Bull has ever had" as he races towards back-to-back Formula 1 titles.
His lead at the top of the standings with seven races to go stands at a remarkable 109 points, with closest challengers Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez all but out of the running now.
It is one of the most remarkable leads after 15 races of a season in recent memory – though not the largest. Lewis Hamilton was 131 points clear of Valtteri Bottas at this stage of the 2020 campaign, while Sebastian Vettel led Jenson Button by a gap of 114 in 2011 – his most dominant year with Red Bull.
While Verstappen's lead is similar to that 2011 season, Marko does not thing the scenarios are the same. In the Red Bull adviser's opinion, the Dutchman's feat is made all the more impressive by competing against a stronger Ferrari than Vettel faced 11 years ago.
"In 2010 we won the first title with Sebastian Vettel in the last race. In 2011, defending the title was more of a walkthrough. In the case of Max, the comparison with 2010 is a little correct, but you can't compare 2011 and 2022," he told Bild.
"Max can just soar above anything... the track [in Belgium] suited our car right from the start. But that is and was not always the case. In 2011, Ferrari wasn't as strong an opponent as it is now. They had Fernando Alonso but not such a good car. This year Ferrari had some technical issues and made some strategy decisions that played into our hands. But in terms of pure speed, unlike in 2011, they are basically on par with us. But we have Max."
Marko then made the claim that Verstappen is the team's fastest ever driver, even better than Vettel had been. Explaining why, he said: "Max doesn't need a build-up phase to be at the limit right away. He can go full throttle immediately. That's just the unbelievable natural talent and the resulting exorbitant basic speed.
"In addition, there is fantastic vehicle control – especially at the limit. That's why I compared him to Ayrton Senna in his early years. I didn't just make friends that way. My good friend Gerhard Berger wrote to me at the time that the comparison would be far-fetched. Today he no longer contradicts when Max is compared to Senna."
And, in a scary prospect for the rest of the grid, the Austrian thinks the defending champion can reach even greater heights. Marko continued: "He's still a long way from reaching his performance limit. He is still in a learning phase. Even if it sounds unbelievable – Max will be even better in the future."
