Helmut Marko’s Sardonic ‘Sportsmanship’ Salute to McLaren as Red Bull Clings to Championship Lead After Italian GP

Helmut Marko takes a jab at McLaren over "sportsmanship" at the Italian Grand Prix

“I value that, and it slightly improves our position.”

Helmut Marko humorously expressed his gratitude to McLaren for their "sportsmanship" following their missed opportunity to secure a win at the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1.

McLaren is currently only eight points away from Red Bull in the Formula 1 constructors' championship standings.

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

Nonetheless, changing Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to a two-stop strategy proved to be an expensive decision.

This enabled Charles Leclerc to seize the race lead and maintain it using a one-stop strategy.

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

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

"Do I think the outcome was disappointing? Absolutely not," he remarked. "We had anticipated this to some extent, and I would like to offer 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, with Verstappen managing to secure just sixth place.

His sixth-place finish is his poorest performance on track since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

As Red Bull faces significant challenges, their position in both championships is at risk, especially with the upcoming races in Baku and Singapore, which are anticipated to be unfavorable for them.

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

Marko is sure that Verstappen will keep making a significant impact in 2024.

“He remains the top driver both mentally and in terms of quality,” he commented.

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