Red Bull admits it could’ve told Max Verstappen to let pass Lando Norris over track limits violation before Austrian GP clash

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris had a collision in the closing stage of the of the Austrian GP which resulted in Norris’ retirement from the race. The McLaren driver went off track for three times for which he earned a five- second penalty.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko expressed his opinion that, both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris raced aggressively. He admitted that Red Bull could be to blame because they knew Norris was being investigated for breaking track limits but they weren’t sure what his punishment would be. Marko thought it would’ve been better if they had let the McLaren driver pass by without fighting too hard. The 81-year-old acknowledged that knowing the outcome of the investigation might have changed their strategy.

But I would say that both drove unnecessarily hard. We could perhaps be blamed for this, we knew that an investigation with track limits was underway against Lando. But we didn't know whether and how he would be punished.

Helmut Marko said, as reported by motorsport.com

Marko looked at the positive side of things, noting that they had increased their lead in both the championships. He mentioned that despite the challenges and incidents during the race, they still managed to come out ahead in the standings. This success in extending their championship lead was a significant achievement for the team. Helmut Marko highlighted this as a key lesson from the weekend.

But let's look on the bright side, we've extended our championship lead, both in the constructors' championship and in the drivers' championship.

Helmut Marko added

Red Bull assumed hard tires would suit the hot weather at the Austrian GP

Helmut Marko explained that they lost the race due to several reasons. The first was, the second pitstop didn’t go well for Verstappen, which let Norris get close enough to use DRS. The second was, they used hard tires considering the hot weather in Austria, hard tires would be better, but they weren’t. These combined issues ended up costing them the win at their home event.

The fact that the [second Verstappen] pitstop went wrong, Lando slipped into the DRS window as a result, and also our assumption that the hard tires would be the better choice in hot weather, which was not the case.

Helmut Marko stated

Further, Marko explained that the temperature at the Austrian GP was lower than expected. Verstappen was running on already used tires, which gave Lando Norris an advantage since he was using fresh tires at the end of the race. This difference in tire conditions, along with other issues they faced, affected their performance.

The temperatures were lower, meaning that Lando had fresh tires in the last stint and we had used ones, which was also a factor.

Helmut Marko added

Certainly, Helmut Marko explained that multiple factors affected their race performance, and they learned a lesson from it. Red Bull fans, present in huge numbers at the Red Bull Ring in Austria to watch their home team win, were disappointed by Max Verstappen’s performance.

In case you missed it:

• Max Verstappen’s clash with Lando Norris shows desperation from the F1 champion
• Andrea Stella claims Max Verstappen “fully to blame” for clash with Lando Norris at Austrian GP

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