Helmut Marko apportions blame in ‘unnecessarily fierce’ Verstappen v Norris clash

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris raced hard at the Austrian GP

Helmut Marko believes “both” Max Verstappen and Lando Norris carry some of the blame for their Austrian GP crash, but so too do Red Bull.

A fiery 10-lap tussle between Verstappen and Norris ended in punctures for both drivers as they battled for the lead at the Red Bull Ring.

Helmut Marko: ‘With hindsight you can then say…’

Although Verstappen was comfortably ahead by more than seven seconds, a slow pit stop and a lock-up from the Dutchman opened the door for Norris to challenge for the lead.

He tried on several occasions but was rebuffed by Verstappen before making another attempt into the Turn 3 braking zone on lap 64.

Going around the Verstappen, the Red Bull driver edged left and the two cars made wheel-to-wheel contact with both the MCL38 and the RB20 suffering rear wheel punctures.

Verstappen limbed back to the pits for fresh rubber before rejoining the race in fifth place, a position he retained despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. Norris however, retired his car.

“We lost the victory due to several factors,” Marko told ServusTV. “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.”

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Speaking specifically about Verstappen’s clash with Norris, Marko apportioned blame to both drivers but also accepted that Red Bull should’ve told Verstappen to let the Briton pass him given Norris was facing a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

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

“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.”

Crossing the line in fifth place to score 10 points, Verstappen extended his lead over Norris in the Drivers’ standings to 81 points with Red Bull 64 points up on Ferrari in the teams’ standings.