Verstappen tells Marko ‘never bet against me’ after losing money to Horner
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Triple world champion Verstappen grabbed the final pole position of the year at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a convincing performance in qualifying. It followed a difficult final practice in which Verstappen was off the pace after complaining about the balance and handling of his Red Bull. But set-up changes between the two sessions proved key as Verstappen went on to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to his 12th pole of a dominant 2023 campaign. Following the chequered flag, an amusing team radio exchange between the Dutchman and team principal Horner on the Red Bull pit wall took place, revealing a bet had taken place. Marko placed a €500 wager with Horner that Verstappen would not make the front row after his FP3 struggles. “Well done mate. You’ve just won me €500 euros from Helmut [Marko], which is like getting blood out of a stone,” Horner said.
Verstappen replied: “Helmut lost a bet? What world are we living in?Horner went on to explain: “The bet was for you to be on the front row.”To which, Verstappen responded: “Ha ha, nice.”Speaking in the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen joked: “I think Helmut learned his lesson – never bet against me! Related Starting grid for F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: How the race will begin Frustrated Wolff “fed up” with Mercedes’ fluctuating W14 F1 car “Of course it was a bit of a gamble because you don’t know. We try a lot of things on the car, which didn’t really seem to solve the problem. “But yeah, I think GP stayed calm and he definitely went through a lot of options. And then with my feedback, he came up with a with a very good set-up for qualifying. “So very, very happy with that. But of course it’s always a bit of a gamble. You’re never 100% sure and missing FP1, probably would have still been tough to get it right for FP2 and FP3.”
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