Helmut Marko slams ‘deliberate’ McLaren stirring as war of words continues

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko flatly denies taking a shot at Lando Norris over mental health, pointing the finger at McLaren for “deliberately causing unrest.”

Via the German publication Motorsport Magazin, Marko had claimed that McLaren driver Norris has “some mental weaknesses” compared to his title rival, Red Bull’s Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen. Those comments did not sit well with either McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown or team principal Andrea Stella, who thought Marko was referring to mental health.

Helmut Marko says McLaren ‘deliberately’ stirring

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, in a United States GP press conference, Brown had said in response: “I read Helmut’s comments, which I thought were disappointing but not surprising.

“Lando has been an ambassador for mental health, Toto [Wolff, Mercedes boss] has spoken about mental health.

“So I think it’s a serious issue that we’ve tried to talk about, to bring to the forefront, make it OK to talk about.

“So to [be] poking at that situation, I think is pretty inappropriate and sets us back 10-20 years.

“But it’s all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective, but I thought that one was in pretty poor taste.”

Stella warned that this situation was far more severe than that of a driver swearing, a reference to the tension between Verstappen and the FIA that erupted in Singapore after Verstappen was given a community service order for swearing in a press conference.

“Lando has been an ambassador of talking openly that sometimes it’s OK not to be OK, and not necessarily about this being about him, but the topic,” Stella told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“Then you hear what Helmut said, and it’s like you destroy in a comment the work of 20 years.

“For me, this is much more severe in terms of what a member of the F1 community has said than one bad word in the wrong place.”

However, Marko has struck back, making it clear that his comments on Norris were in no way a jibe at his mental health.

“There was a fuss again just because I said that Norris is a bad starter,” Marko told OE24.

“But I never talked about mental health, I just said that Max is mentally stronger.”

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Marko believes there is a clear McLaren tactic behind this spat.

Put to him that he knows by now every statement he makes is taken into account, Marko replied: “Yes, but you can’t twist the wording. They are deliberately causing unrest.

“But we know Zak Brown’s games. He deliberately stirs up trouble wherever he can.”

After the race, a different source of frustration arose for McLaren, following the five-second penalty which Norris received as he battled Verstappen for the final US GP podium spot.

Neither driver made Turn 12, but with Norris returning to the track ahead of Verstappen, he was given the time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Stella had called the FIA’s intervention “inappropriate”, but Marko sees no grounds for complaint.

“The stewards acted according to the rules, there’s nothing to criticise,” said Marko.

“But the solution would be very simple: you just have to install something like at the Red Bull Ring (gravel traps) – if you drive out there, you automatically lose time and there’s no subsequent fuss with penalties.”

After passing Verstappen and not giving P3 back, Norris looked to escape up the road. He could not wipe out that time penalty though, with a final gap of 4.1 seconds meaning Verstappen returned to the podium.

However, Marko does not believe that Verstappen would have needed that Norris time penalty to see off his title rival if the Brit had re-joined behind.

“He delivered an incredible race in Austin: Faultless 15 laps with tyres that were clearly degrading and a car that was understeering badly,” said Marko on Verstappen.

“The manoeuvre against Norris was hard but fair. I think Max would have stayed in front even without the penalty against Lando.”

Verstappen has extended his Drivers’ Championship lead over Norris to 57 points with five rounds of the F1 2024 season to go.

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