Helmut Marko points to Lando Norris flaw against ‘practically faultless’ Max Verstappen
Lando Norris finished second to Max Verstappen for the fourth time in 2024 in Spain
Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko believes Max Verstappen has the ability to drive “practically faultlessly” – something his “main rival” for the F1 2024 title Lando Norris “can’t do yet.”
Verstappen collected his seventh victory of the F1 2024 season at last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, overcoming Norris to win by just two seconds.
Helmut Marko highlights crucial difference between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris
Norris cut a frustrated figure after the race, with the McLaren driver left to rue a poor start from pole position which saw him drop to third – behind Verstappen and early leader George Russell – at the first corner.
Norris’s latest defeat to Verstappen comes after he was forced to settle for second at the previous race in Canada, where he and McLaren missed the opportune moment to pit under the Safety Car having at one stage established a healthy eight-second lead.
The British driver also fell agonisingly short at last month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where Verstappen held off a late charge by Norris to win by 0.725 seconds.
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Despite his latest near miss, Norris’s fifth podium in six races saw him move ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into second in the Drivers’ standings, albeit with a 69-point deficit to Verstappen, ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Writing in his Speedweek column, Marko claimed Verstappen “once again made the difference” for Red Bull in Barcelona, driving without error in a way Norris – who registered his maiden F1 victory at the 110th time of asking in Miami last month – cannot yet do.
Marko said: “Max drives practically faultlessly. Thank God Lando can’t do that yet, but he remains our main rival.
“In Spain, Verstappen didn’t have the fastest car and he didn’t start from pole position, but he still managed to take the win thanks to an incredible overtaking manoeuvre on George Russell on the third lap.
“It allowed him to take the lead and he proved once again how good his instincts are and how well he can read the race. That was the foundation for the win.
“Max once again made the difference. He took the win with a car that wasn’t the fastest.
“I think if Lando had stayed in front at the start, we wouldn’t have won the race. But the start dropped him back to third position behind Russell and Max.”
Norris defended aggressively against Verstappen off the line in Barcelona, edging the Red Bull on to the grass on the charge towards Turn 1 before Russell swooped around the outside of both to take the lead.
Verstappen remarked to Norris in the post-race cooldown room that the pair had “slowed each other down” at the start, with Marko unimpressed by the McLaren’s driver’s defence.
“[Norris] pushed Max onto the grass with a manoeuvre that was more than borderline,” he said.
Marko conceded that McLaren had the fastest car in Barcelona, with the MCL38 more versatile – and its speed more accessible – than the RB20 in its current state.
He added: “McLaren had the fastest car, because we came to the track again on Friday with an unbalanced car and needed until qualifying to make it halfway competitive.
“You could already see that in the long runs on Friday, when McLaren was clearly faster than us.
“At the moment, McLaren simply has the car that works with every tyre on every track, more or less straight away.”
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