Red Bull cannot blame Verstappen for the fastest lap, according to Marko
Comfortably seated in the lead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen went on to secure the fastest lap of the race while being under the penalty for track limits. Helmut Marko ensures that Red Bull cannot blame him for it.
The head of the Red Bull young driver programme, Helmut Marko, insisted that the team cannot be angry with Max Verstappen, even though the world championship leader ignored the warnings regarding track limits during the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver mastered the race at the Barcelona circuit, leading all 66 laps, and ultimately finished with a 26-second advantage over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, who came in second. The two-time reigning world champion flirted with what could have been a costly penalty.
A potentially costly penalty
He received a black and white flag from the sports officials for exceeding the track limits three times. This means that another infringement would have resulted in a five-second penalty added to his race time.
The margin of victory would have made this sanction obsolete, but a safety car towards the end of the race would have taken away a comfortable win, as the pack would have regrouped.
Aware of this possibility, his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase multiplied the warnings to dissuade his driver from attempting the fastest lap. Max Verstappen ignored the advice and subsequently set the fastest lap of the race, with a time of 1’16”330.
Helmut Marko impressed
Admitting that there were no issues, Helmut Marko stated, « We were less concerned about it than the viewers. He also set the fastest lap, even though his tires were far from being as good as Checo’s [Sergio Perez’s].»
« In this position, one would normally not take risks, but one cannot help but think of Max. You can’t be angry with him. »
