If "mental strength" makes the difference in 2024, Max Verstappen will emerge with his fourth consecutive drivers’ world championship.
That’s the view of Red Bull advisor, and Verstappen’s long-time mentor, Dr Helmut Marko, as he contrasted the resilience of the Dutchman with his main title opponent, Lando Norris.
"Norris, as we know, has certain weaknesses at the (race) starts," the 81-year-old Austrian told motorsport-magazin.com.
"And as I have now read, there are weaknesses in other ways too. For example, he has to follow certain rituals on race day in order to be able to perform at all."
Norris, who at 24 is two years younger than his off-track friend Verstappen, has openly admitted that he is often so nervous before a race that he struggles to eat or drink.
Marko joked that Red Bull might consider offering Norris a bite to eat at the next race.
"Back in Barcelona," he said with a grin, "with their burned-out kitchen, we offered that to McLaren, but it was not accepted."
He has no doubt that Verstappen is the favourite to be champion at the end of the season, notwithstanding his dwindling 52-point lead and car struggles.
"He is the best, the fastest and, in terms of mental strength, the safest," Marko said.
He also thinks McLaren needs more time to fully adjust to converting superior car performance into trophies and titles. "You can see that McLaren has made a relatively large number of mistakes, both in terms of strategy and in the operational area.
"You have to learn that first," Marko added. "We lost the world championship in 2009, even though we had the faster car in the second half of the season, because we weren’t yet mature and settled enough as a team."
Former F1 driver Timo Glock, however, sees more pressure on Verstappen’s shoulders.
"The pressure is mainly on Verstappen because he has to manage the lead," he told web.de. "For Norris, he only has to take each race as it comes and win all of them. That’s all he can do."
Glock agrees with Marko that the 26-year-old Dutchman has the edge.
"Max gained a lot of experience during the 2021 title fight against Lewis Hamilton. He knows how to deal with tense and difficult situations."
New Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto last week said he believes Red Bull’s cycle of success is now at its end. "Cycles have a beginning and an end, as always in F1," he told Corriere della Sera. "And Red Bull’s is at the end."
Glock continued: "There has been so much unrest at Red Bull that we see can even make a top team falter. They need to now find the cause of the poor sporting development, whether it’s the outdated wind tunnel, the floor, or something else."