Max Verstappen’s clash with George Russell post-Safety Car drew criticism from Helmut Marko, citing emotion-fueled misjudgment and costly frustration.
Helmut Marko admits to being skeptical about Max Verstappen’s deliberate move on George Russell. The Red Bull motorsport advisor explains what led to his driver’s frustration, which then triggered the incident in question.
“On the straight, I would say Leclerc hit Max’s car,” Marko told Servus TV. “Then came the situation with Russell. It must be said that Max knows the rules in the smallest detail. He immediately said, ‘he was out of control, and that’s why I had to go off track.’”
“The internal discussion was that it was 50-50. And since it happened just after the safety car period, the impact of a 10-second penalty is much greater than if it occurs in the middle of the race. Max didn’t want to give the position back. But he was ordered to do so, and he complied under protest.”
But the Austrian admits he didn’t understand his driver’s intentions: “Max lifted off the throttle, and we all thought he was letting Russell through. Then suddenly, he accelerated again. I don’t know what kind of misjudgment or thought process was going through his mind. And then, as they say, all hell broke loose.”
Verstappen is one penalty point away from a suspension, and Marko acknowledges that it shouldn’t have come to this: “There have already been issues in the past. It was unnecessary and a lot of points were lost. But because of all the incidents and the unfortunate bad decisions, emotions simply took over.”
It was also revealed that there was no full post-race debrief to avoid forcing the Dutch driver to revisit the race while he was “very tense. Everyone goes their own way. And when Max is in that mood, it’s best to leave him alone.”
The four-time world champion currently has 11 penalty points and, starting from Austria, he will only have nine left for several months. Marko remains convinced, however, that a suspension won’t happen: “But that won’t happen. Max is a tough racer in duels, we know that. But he also knows his limits.”
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