Marko and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed a bet ahead of qualifying for the F1 season finale over where Verstappen would qualify, following the struggles he had faced through the weekend.
But Marko’s belief that Verstappen would only line up on the second row of the grid proved wide of the mark, as the world champion pulled off a surprise pole position that Verstappen admitted felt "weird".
Although that meant Marko has had to hand over 500 euros to Horner, he says he is not too unhappy that his driver and engineers managed to prove him wrong.
Speaking to Autosport about the bet, Marko said: “I never believed that we could come back for qualifying the way that we did.
“We lost in FP3 half a second just in sector three, so it was some sort of motivation also.
“Christian said front row and I said no, second row. I lost it, but I'm very happy that our engineers did a fantastic job to make the right adjustments, and also that Max in the end delivered.
“I should have known Max!”
Source: Autosport