Helmut Marko’s ‘unnecessarily fierce’ verdict on Max Verstappen-Lando Norris clash

Helmut Marko has described Max Verstappen’s incident with Lando Norris as ‘unnecessarily fierce’ following a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix.

When battling for the lead on Lap 64, Verstappen and Norris came to blows at Turn 3.

Verstappen veered slightly left under braking into Norris’ path.

The contact resulted in punctures for both drivers, handing George Russell an unlikely victory at the Red Bull Ring.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty for his role in the incident -  a penalty which proved to be inconsequential to his final finishing position of fifth.

Conversely, Norris was forced to retire from the race due to damage.

Reflecting on the race, Marko told ServusTV: “We lost the victory due to several factors.

“The fact that our pit stop went wrong, which put Lando in DRS range. We expected that the hard tyres would be the better choice, but that turned out to not be the case. The temperatures were lower than expected.

“That meant Lando had new tyres in his last stint and we were on used. That was also a factor. Max also locked up after his pit stop in Turn 4. All that together made it difficult for us.”

Marko conceded that Red Bull potentially should have intervened as Norris was under investigation for track limits and was hit with a five-second time penalty shortly after they collided on Lap 64.

“I think they both drove unnecessarily fiercely,” Marko added.

“In doing so, maybe we should have intervened as well, because we knew there was an investigation going on about Lando and track limits. We just didn’t know yet if he would be punished.

“With hindsight you can then say, ‘okay, let him go.’ But let’s look on the bright side: we increased our lead in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.

“It was a great fight until it somehow degenerated. Who brakes where, who grabs more track limits, instead of focusing on a fair finish.”