Marko laughs at 'McLaren's sportsmanship': 'I want to thank them for that'

F1 News

Helmut Marko on 'sportsmanship' McLaren at Italian Grand Prix
1 September at 17:25
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  • Cas van de Kleut

Red Bull Racing had a dramatic race weekend in Monza. Max Verstappen saw his championship lead shrink again, as Lando Norris finished third with the fastest race lap. Yet things could have been a lot worse had the Briton won. Red Bull's top consultant, Helmut Marko, can, therefore, laugh at the fact that this did not happen.

Marko laughs at McLaren

Norris still started from pole position, but on the very first lap he was overtaken by his teammate, Oscar Piastri. McLaren then reported over the radio that fighting was allowed, but according to 'papaya rules'. So no team orders followed, despite Norris fighting for the championship, while this does not seem realistic for Piastri. In the end, neither McLaren driver won the race, as a one-stop strategy allowed Charles Leclerc to stay ahead of the two teammates.

There was little upbeat about the race for Red Bull, yet Marko smilingly told De Telegraaf: "A disappointing result? No way. We had seen this coming a bit and I want to congratulate Ferrari on the victory and thank McLaren for their sportsmanship. I appreciate that, and it makes our situation a bit better."

'Verstappen still the strongest driver'

However, there is no longer any denying Red Bull's problems, as once again, a lot went wrong at the Italian Grand Prix. Despite this, Marko is still confident that Verstappen will win the world title: "Mentally and also qualitatively, Max is still the strongest driver in the field."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton