F1
Helmut Marko Jabs at McLaren’s ‘Sportsmanship’ After Italian GP; Red Bull’s Championship Lead Narrowed
Helmut Marko takes a jab at McLaren's "sportsmanship" during the Italian Grand Prix, saying, "I value that, and it slightly improves our position."
Helmut Marko humorously expressed his gratitude towards McLaren for their “sportsmanship” following their loss of the Italian Grand Prix F1 race win.
McLaren is currently trailing Red Bull by only eight points in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship.
The team from Woking might have topped the leaderboard after Monza if they had achieved a first and second place finish.
Nevertheless, the choice to change Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to a two-stop strategy proved to be expensive.
This enabled Charles Leclerc to seize the race lead, which he maintained using a one-stop strategy.
Norris secured third place, which trimmed Max Verstappen’s advantage in the drivers’ championship by just eight points, bringing the gap down to 62 points as they head to Azerbaijan.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, Marko rejected the notion that it was a "disappointing result" and took a jab at McLaren.
"A letdown? Absolutely not," he commented. "We anticipated this to some extent, and I wish to extend my congratulations to Ferrari for their win and express my gratitude to McLaren for their fair play.
"I’m grateful for that; it improves our circumstances somewhat."
Red Bull had a tough weekend as Verstappen finished in sixth place.
Placing sixth marks his lowest race finish since the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in 2022.
Given Red Bull's significant challenges, their standing in both championships is at risk, especially with the upcoming races in Baku and Singapore, which are anticipated to be unfavorable for them.
A positive update for Red Bull is that they have a month-long break before the series of races in the United States. This interval provides them with valuable time to possibly address any issues and help Verstappen secure his fourth world championship this year.
Marko is still sure that Verstappen will stand out in 2024.
He stated that, both mentally and in terms of quality, Max remains the top driver in the field.
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