Marko: Mistakes do not take away Max's talent and speed

Verstappen has made errors in all six rounds of the championship thus far, the one during qualifying in Monaco perhaps the most expensive as Red Bull had the car to finish one-two at the principality. Instead, Verstappen crashed heavily and unnecessarily in the final stages of FP3 at which point he was the fastest man on track.

The damage to his RB14 was severe and he was forced to miss qualifying, he started from the back of the grid and toiled hard all day to finish ninth while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo scored a famous victory with a malfunctioning race car.

Motorsport-Magazine collared Marko ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix and asked him the status of Verstappen in the wake of his Monaco misadventures, he said, "First: In part, the criticism is justified. China and Monte Carlo were just stupid mistakes."

"But that does not take away his speed and talent. All we have to do is get through this patch and when he stands on the podium again the whole thing will blow away."

Verstappen crumpled a race winning car and he knew it as Marko revealed, "I've rarely seen him so depressed as in Monte-Carlo. He took it very much to heart because it was again his teammate that won and the best for him was ninth place."

"But the problem is not that he is out of control. It is only this unbridled ambition to always want to be best in every situation."

"Back to Monte Carlo [FP3 crash]: he was already three tenths ahead in his lap time. If then in the swimming pool area a slower car gets in the way, he gets off the gas but he should then not still try to set the best time anyway."

"He has to learn these things slowly now. Being patient and to estimate when it is important and when it is not important to push," added Marko.

Ricciardo's form, which has led him to two victories in the first six races, has boosted his shares substantially but he has yet to sign a contract extension with the energy drinks outfit.

Asked if the Australian is now the team leader Marko replied, "At the moment things are going much better for him. But team leaders... there is no favouritism or anything like that. Last year, at the beginning of the season, Ricciardo's pace was a bit worse than Verstappen, but both drivers were treated the same."

Ricciardo currently lies third in the points standings, with 72 points with Verstappen on 35.