Helmut Marko Mocks McLaren’s ‘Sportsmanship’ as Red Bull Struggles at Italian Grand Prix

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

Helmut Marko humorously expressed gratitude to McLaren for their "sportsmanship" after they lost the chance to win the Italian Grand Prix F1 race.

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

The team from Woking might have topped the rankings after Monza if they had achieved a first and second place finish.

Nonetheless, 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 race lead, which he maintained using a one-stop strategy.

Norris finished in third place, cutting Max Verstappen's lead in the drivers' championship by eight points. As a result, Verstappen now holds a 62-point advantage going into the Azerbaijan race.

In an interview with Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, Marko rejected claims that it was a "disappointing result" and proceeded to ridicule McLaren.

"Was the result disappointing? Absolutely not," he remarked. "We anticipated this outcome to some extent. I want to extend my congratulations to Ferrari for their win and express my gratitude to McLaren for their fair play."

"Thank you, that improves our circumstances somewhat."

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

His sixth-place result 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 races in Baku and Singapore approaching — tracks that are not anticipated to favor their performance.

The 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 develop strategies that could help Verstappen secure his fourth world championship this year.

Marko is still sure that Verstappen will be a key player in 2024.

“He's still the top driver mentally and in terms of quality,” he stated.

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