Helmut Marko Mocks McLaren’s ‘Sportsmanship’ After Strategic Blunder at Italian Grand Prix

Helmut Marko takes a jab at McLaren over "sportsmanship" at the Italian Grand Prix, saying, "I value that, and it slightly improves our position."

Helmut Marko humorously expressed his gratitude to McLaren for their "sportsmanship" following the team's loss of the Italian Grand Prix F1 race victory.

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 the Monza race if they had achieved a first and second place finish.

Nevertheless, their choice to move Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to a strategy involving two pit stops proved to be an expensive error.

This enabled Charles Leclerc to seize the race's lead, maintaining it with a one-stop strategy.

Norris secured third place, which cut Max Verstappen's advantage in the drivers' championship by just eight points. Verstappen now leads by 62 points as they head to Azerbaijan.

In an interview with the Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, Marko rejected the notion that the outcome was "disappointing" and went on to ridicule McLaren.

"A letdown? Absolutely not," he remarked. "We anticipated this outcome to some extent, and I want to congratulate Ferrari on their win and express my gratitude to McLaren for their fair play."

"Thank you for that; it improves our circumstances somewhat."

Red Bull had a tough weekend as Verstappen managed to secure only sixth place.

Finishing in sixth place marks his poorest performance on the track since the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in 2022.

With Red Bull facing significant challenges, their position in both championships is at risk, especially with the upcoming races in Baku and Singapore, which are not anticipated to favor them.

The positive aspect for Red Bull is that they have a month-long break before the series of races in America, which provides them with essential time to possibly discover solutions that could help Verstappen secure his fourth world championship this year.

Marko is still certain that Verstappen will stand out in 2024.

"Max remains the top driver in terms of both mental fortitude and quality," he commented.

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