Helmut Marko did not mince his words when speaking about Lando Norris.
Helmut Marko has aimed a public dig at Lando Norris following his tangle with Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver saw his race ruined when Verstappen took him out while they were battling for the lead, allowing George Russell to claim a surprise victory.
Norris made a late move on his rival, who led for the majority of the race, but was tagged by Verstappen when the Dutchman moved under braking. Both drivers suffered punctures but Norris came off worse and was forced to retire, while Verstappen finished fifth despite receiving a 10-second penalty.
Much of the blame for the collision went to the Red Bull driver, and Norris was left feeling that this was a step too far. Following the race, he made demands for an apology, implying that if Verstappen did not accept responsibility, he would no longer have his respect.
Norris remarked, “I’ll lose a lot of respect if he says he did nothing wrong.” “I’ll lose some respect for him if he acknowledges that he was a little foolish to run into me and that he was a little reckless in a way, but it’s still a hard one to take when you’re fighting for the win.”
Since then, Marko has called Norris “pathetic” for how he handled the collision; the Red Bull advisor feels that it should have been considered a racing incident.
“It was pitiful how Norris behaved on the radio,” he said to OE24. I would dismiss it as a racing mishap, but these things do happen, even though Norris most likely overreached himself. The suggestion by Norris that Max should apologize is not very helpful.
They will get together to talk. Max had a quiet return flight because they didn’t travel together as they usually do.”
Having been close friends prior to their collision at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen has already stated that he will have a private discussion with Norris.
“We’ll discuss it,” Verstappen stated during his press conference following the race. “Not right now, I don’t think, but we’re race car drivers, you know. Naturally, Lando and I are a little older.
“Compared to some other drivers here, we never really competed against one another in lower classes because of this. We’ll put it behind us.”
