Helmut Marko asserts Max Verstappen will ‘no longer’ sim race at late nights after Hungarian GP outburst
Max Verstappen had an extremely torrid time during his Budapest outing.
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Helmut Marko with Max Verstappen (Image Via IMAGO)
The Hungarian GP saw several dramatic events throughout the race weekend. Max Verstappen was unable to score the pole position for the main race and also failed to score a podium finish. The Dutchman was reportedly partaking in sim racing till 3 AM the night before the 70-lap event. As a result, multiple people believed the lack of sleep to be the major reason behind Verstappen’s Hungarian GP antics.
Max Verstappen had previously participated in 24 hours of virtual Le Mans before the Emilia Romagna GP in a similar manner. Subsequently, Verstappen faced a challenging race in Imola back then. Hence, Helmut Marko believed this to be the underlying reason behind the Dutchman’s agitated attitude in Budapest. The 81-year-old noted that his ‘thin-skinned nature’ was due to spending half the night on sim racing.
Max Verstappen was rather thin-skinned this weekend, and of course it didn't take long for criticism to arise - no wonder, given that he spends half the night playing sim racing.Helmut Marko said, as reported by speedweek.com.
Apart from this, Marko revealed that the main reason for Verstappen’s late night sim racing was due to a driver’s sudden dropout on his team. However, Red Bull must enforce strict measures to ensure that the Dutchman isn’t heated during races. Hence, the Austrian revealed that the 26-year-old wouldn’t race ‘so late’ in the night in the future.
His late-night sim race on the Hungary weekend only happened because a driver in his team had dropped out. Nevertheless, we have agreed that he will no longer drive sims so late in the future.Helmut Marko added.
Helmut Marko claims Max Verstappen has a ‘different sleep rhythm’
Max Verstappen is usually calm and collected during races, unlike the Hungarian GP outburst. However, Red Bull’s poor strategy call and degrading form further agitated the Dutchman into exchanging heated words over the radio. Regardless, Helmut Marko claimed the reigning world champion had slept enough before the race.
Marko revealed that Verstappen won in Imola despite partaking in the sim race late at night and noted that the Dutchman slept for ‘seven hours’ before the Hungarian GP.
I have to say this: In Imola, he didn't go to bed until three o'clock in the morning after a sim racing session - and then won the Grand Prix. Max has a different sleep rhythm, and he had his seven hours of sleep.Helmut Marko noted.
Red Bull has continued to implement multiple upgrades to the chassis amidst the massive performance slump. Milton Keynes is quickly losing ground to McLaren in terms of pace and performance. Verstappen has still attempted his level best to score impressive results during the race weekends. Keeping all this in view, the upcoming Belgian GP weekend will be a fascinating watch.
In case you missed it:
- Max Verstappen all-set to take 10-place grid drop for Belgian GP amidst lackluster F1 run
- Lando Norris claims his tussle for the world championship ‘is still on’ despite missing out on Hungarian GP
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Aditya Pandya
(1464 Articles Published)