F1 News
Horner comes to Marko's rescue: "Wasn't aware of the seriousness of the case yet"
- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko made the not too clever remark that he was in favour of deliberately infecting Max Verstappen and other team members with the coronavirus. The Red Bull advisor's idea was that the team members would at least be rid of it afterwards. College Christian Horner supports Marko after the Austrian was criticized.
According to Horner, Marko's remark did not come from an evil heart. The team boss dismisses the incident as a reprehensible remark. To the BBC the Brit explains further.
"Helmut himself said that the remark was not received with enthusiasm at Red Bull and that the instructions were certainly not taken up. It was in several ways a disposable idea, made before it was clear how serious the pandemic really is".
Comment Marko was never taken seriously
Horner supports his own story: "Red Bull has a lot of athletes among them but given everything that is going on at the moment, it is important to focus on the fact that the virus can affect both young and old, people with a weak condition".
"It's not a single sector on which this has an impact. The project we are now working on, with the fans for IC departments, shows how seriously we take the matter and how badly we are doing our best".
Horner concludes: "Helmut's remark was made before it was clear how serious the virus is. We never considered it a serious suggestion."