Helmut Marko praises Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris, but says Max Verstappen remains the benchmark. Helmut Marko praises Oscar Piastri as better than Lando Norris.

A championship as spectator

Following the recent Grands Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring, Red Bull Racing and Helmut Marko have effectively conceded defeat in the 2025 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship battle for Max Verstappen. The dominance of McLaren has been overwhelming, underscored by an impressive streak of four consecutive 1-2 finishes in the last four races.

“In this final phase, we can learn how to get the tyres into the right operating window, and even Mercedes and Ferrari are experiencing ups and downs in this regard,” explained Helmut Marko in an interview with F1-Insider.

Marko analyses McLaren

Many in the paddock believe a key factor behind McLaren’s remarkable progress has been the influence of Rob Marshall, who left Red Bull in 2023 to join the British team as performance director. However, Helmut Marko downplayed this theory: “That’s just speculation, he is an excellent engineer and certainly plays an important role. But success is the result of the whole team’s work.”

Regarding the internal battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, Helmut Marko has a clear opinion: “Piastri has guts, he is more consistent, and always manages to bring out the best in himself. Norris may be faster over a single lap, but overall I see Piastri ahead.”

However, Marko points out the mountain that still needs to be climbed to match Verstappen’s level: “Oscar has had an incredible career and continues to improve year after year. But Verstappen is Verstappen: to reach him, he still has a long way to go. But he has the potential to become a great driver.”