Helmut Marko believes the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris “could be near” to Max Verstappen in the same car, “but only near to him.”

Verstappen will have a new team-mate in 2025 in the form of Liam Lawson, who has been promoted from VCARB after Sergio Perez departed Red Bull at the end of 2024.

Marko: ‘Maybe’ Hamilton and Norris ‘could be near’ to Max Verstappen

Perez had partnered Verstappen for four seasons before he and Red Bull agreed a mutual change at the end of 2024, with Marko having been public in his pressure on placing pressure on Perez to perform.

He admitted partnering the reigning World Champion is no easy feat, however, with the Red Bull motorsport advisor saying very few would be able to compete with him in equal machinery – naming only Hamilton and Norris as those to be able to get close to his pace.

“I don’t think it’s nice to be team-mate to Max nowadays,” Marko told the Inside Line F1 podcast last season.

“I honestly believe there are not many drivers, maybe a Hamilton or maybe Lando could be near to him, but only near to him.”

More of the latest news and features from PlanetF1.com

👉 Revealed: The truth behind Aston Martin’s management changes for F1 2025

👉 Eight F1 drivers we can’t believe never won a World Championship

Marko was speaking before it was confirmed that Perez would not be continuing with Red Bull next season, but he explained that partnering Verstappen takes a specific set of requirements – one of which being the acceptance that the Dutchman is on top of his game in Formula 1.

He explained one race in 2024 in which Perez managed what was expected in his role – being there or thereabouts compared to his team-mate.

“So first of all, the driver next to Max has to have a lot of self-confidence, and he has to admit that he’s driving with the fastest driver in Formula 1 at the moment, and to beat him is very, very difficult – so just do your best and see where you can finish,” he explained.

“And that, we have to say, managed [with] Sergio for quite a long period, longer than all the other drivers which were next to Max.

“In Zandvoort, he proved that he did what was the maximum for him and from the car, so that we expect to be reasonably near to Max. We don’t expect him to beat, but [be] reasonable next to Max.”

Read next: Revealed: When Adrian Newey will start work at Aston Martin in F1 2025