Helmut Marko blasts ‘pathetic’ Lando Norris as Verstappen takes jet without him

Complaining that Max Verstappen for moving under braking, Helmut Marko has decried Lando Norris’ radio messages as “pathetic” at the Austrian Grand Prix.

After a slow burn in which Verstappen eked out a seven-second lead and looked to be on course for the victory at the Red Bull Ring, the reigning World Champion and Norris put on a thriller for the fans after the second round of pit stops.

Helmut Marko believes Lando Norris was ‘more’ to blame

A slow stop from Red Bull coupled with a lock-up from Verstappen, who was on slightly used tyres compared to Norris’ fresh mediums, meant the McLaren driver closed right up on Verstappen’s rear wing.

Turn 3 was his chosen spot to attack but while Verstappen rebuffed him several times, it came to a head on lap 64 when Norris tried to pass around the outside into the braking zone and Verstappen shut the door.

The two made contact with both cars suffering rear-wheel punctures. Crawling back to the pits, Norris retired his car while Verstappen fitted new tyres and raced his way to fifth place despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.

Tempers were running high, not only in the build-up to the clash but also afterwards with Norris saying he’ll lose “respect” for Verstappen if he doesn’t admit he was to blame. That’s unlikely, though, given the Dutchman’s sarcastic response to his penalty.

But it’s not just the drivers who were left fuming with Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko calling Norris’ complaints over the radio “pathetic”.

“Norris’s behaviour on the radio was pathetic,” he told OE24 . “But things like that happen and I would write it off as a racing accident, although Norris was more likely to have overstepped the mark.”

The Austrian believes Norris’ comment about respect also didn’t help the situation.

“Norris’ comments that Max should apologise are not very helpful. But they will meet to talk things out,” he said.

“They usually fly together, but this time they were travelling separately. So Max had a quiet return flight.”

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Helmut Marko explains the ‘botched pit stop’ that helped Norris

Verstappen had built up a seven-second advantage during the middle stint of the Grand Prix only to watch it disappear through two notable mistakes .

The first was Red Bull’s slow pit stop, the result of a “jammed” nut, while just after exiting the pits the driver locked up at Turn 4.

“It started with the botched pit stop, then Max suddenly had no grip with the set of tyres. And suddenly Norris was in the DRS area,” Marko said.

He was quick to refute any suggestion that Verstappen made a mistake under pressure, saying: “As I said: Max was out on a used set of tyres and suddenly had no grip. He didn’t go off the track, it just cost time.”

Pressed on the pit stop issue, he explained: “A nut was jammed – but that can happen. We made over 50 pit stops in the two-second range, some of which decided between victory and defeat. So I’m not blaming anyone now, it’s a quick thing to put aside.”

Verstappen and Norris’ clash opened the door for George Russell to take the victory, somewhat ironic given just days prior Marko had said he wanted Mercedes to take points off Red Bull’s rivals. Russell did just that on Sunday.

“That’s right,” the 81-year-old said when reminded of his comment. “But a win would of course have been better.

“We extended our lead in the World Championship in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. That was the second-best solution.”

Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ standings is up to 81 points ahead of Norris while Red Bull are 64 up on Ferrari in the teams’ standings.

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