Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has defended Max Verstappen over a recent video showing the 25-year-old speeding in France, with Marko labelling it as “nothing special”.
Ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, a clip was posted onto social media showing Verstappen speeding near Monaco, whilst driving a rare Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Based on the reading from the speedometer, Verstappen was going 34km/h over the speed limit, whilst he was also driving on the wrong side of the road.
Reportedly, French police haven’t completely ruled out prosecuting the reigning World Champion.
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However, Marko insists that Verstappen simply “always has stories like this” following him.
“Max always has stories like this going on,” Marko told Osterreich newspaper. “Hello! He’s 25 years old, it’s nothing special that he’s going too fast here and there.”
The Dutchman has been in the headlines ahead of his home race over comments that he could decide to leave F1 when the new regulations are introduced, should Red Bull become a midfield team.
2026 will see the new power unit regulations introduced, with Red Bull set to power themselves.
There have been mixed reports over their progress, with some having suggested that Red Bull aren’t meeting their own expectations so far.
Marko has quashed any such rumour though, with him insisting that Red Bull are ahead of both Ferrari and Audi in the 2026 development race.
Should things go wrong and Red Bull do struggle, then Marko recognises that Verstappen could leave, although he admits that “nothing will happen in the near future”.
“That can actually happen from one day to the next,” Marko said.
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“He has his own opinions, he sees the constant rule changes with the tyres and other things as unnecessary. But nothing will happen in the near future.”
The Dutch GP has so far gone very well for Verstappen, who topped Free Practice 1 and finished second in Free Practice 2 on Friday.
He went on to top a wet Free Practice 3 by just over three-tenths of a second from George Russell, who was the only driver within a second of the Dutchman.