Verstappen: Helmut Marko Admits “Serious Error” in Clash with Russell

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has acknowledged that Max Verstappen’s collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix was a “serious misjudgment.” However, he remains optimistic that the current champion will not be penalized with a race ban. The situation unfolded when Verstappen, frustrated by the development of his race, hit Russell’s car in Spain, after the Red Bull team told him to yield the position to the Mercedes driver. Although Verstappen avoided speaking directly about the incident in the post-race interviews, he issued a statement on social media on Monday, stating that the maneuver “was not correct and should not have happened”. Marko, a close ally of Verstappen at Red Bull, agreed that the reigning champion had a lapse in judgment.

Max then suddenly accelerated again and then all hell broke loose. That was a serious error of judgment.

Helmut Marko

Marko added that “he already disagreed with Russell. With incidents and bad decisions, emotions have been exacerbated”. After the incident, Verstappen received a 10-second penalty, which relegated him to tenth place in the final race standings. In addition, he was given three penalty points on his super license by the stewards. Verstappen now accumulates a total of 11 penalty points on his super license, which means that another error of judgment in one of the next two races would result in 12 points in a 12-month period and a race ban. However, Marko is confident that Verstappen will be able to control any frustration inside the car and avoid a suspension.

The punishment is appropriate. It will not happen that he misbehaves in Canada and then does not start in Austria. He is a driver who knows his limits.

Helmut Marko

Marko also commented that the difference between Red Bull and McLaren, leaders of the championship, was greater than expected in Spain, but he expects it to be reduced in the next race in Canada.

The whole weekend was a lesson for us. Basically, we were three tenths behind with a car that was too slow. We thought we were on par. We saw again that McLaren is far superior.

Helmut Marko

Marko concluded by saying: “We hope our car will be competitive again in Canada. At the moment, Max Verstappen doesn’t have a car with which he can be world champion. But only he can deal with that at the moment. If everything fits, we will be as fast as McLaren. But that’s only every third or fourth race. McLaren is always there. We still haven’t given up, but it’s going to be difficult.”