Helmut Marko Mocks McLaren’s ‘Sportsmanship’ After Strategic Misstep at Italian Grand Prix Boosts Red Bull’s Championship Hopes

Helmut Marko takes a dig at McLaren regarding "sportsmanship" during 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 their loss of the Italian Grand Prix F1 race win.

McLaren is now trailing Red Bull by only eight points in the Formula 1 constructors' championship.

The team from Woking might have been at the top of the leaderboard post-Monza if they had achieved a first and second-place finish.

Nevertheless, opting to change Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to a two-stop strategy proved to be an expensive mistake.

This enabled Charles Leclerc to seize the front position in the race, maintaining his lead with a one-stop strategy.

Norris securing third place resulted in him decreasing Max Verstappen’s advantage in the drivers’ championship by just eight points, bringing the gap to 62 points as they head to Azerbaijan.

In an interview with the Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, Marko refuted claims that the outcome was "disappointing" and proceeded to ridicule McLaren.

"Not at all," he responded when asked if the outcome was disappointing. "We somewhat anticipated this and I want to commend Ferrari for their win and express gratitude to McLaren for their fair play."

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

Red Bull had a tough weekend, with Verstappen managing to secure only a sixth-place finish.

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

Due to Red Bull's significant challenges, their position in both championship races is at risk, especially with the upcoming Baku and Singapore circuits, which are not anticipated to play to their strengths.

A positive development for Red Bull is the one-month break before the series of American races, providing them with essential time to possibly discover solutions that could enable Verstappen to secure his fourth world championship this year.

Marko stays assured that Verstappen will keep being the deciding factor in 2024.

“He’s still the best driver out there, both mentally and in terms of quality,” he stated.

Explore Further

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

No part of the text, photos, or images may be copied or reproduced in any manner.