Purple Bull’s failure to warn Max Verstappen that Lando Norris confronted a observe limits investigation may need prevented their late 2024 Method 1 Austrian Grand Prix crash, reckons Helmut Marko.
Verstappen and Norris collided within the closing phases of Sunday’s race on the Purple Bull Ring, after the McLaren driver had gone off the observe 3 times and earned a observe limits black-white-warning flag, earlier than then going off of their second skirmish on the observe’s Flip 3.
This is able to later earn Norris a five-second time penalty, as is automated in F1’s guidelines as soon as a observe limits warning has been issued, however earlier than that got here by the pair had collided at Flip 3 – this time when the McLaren driver attacked on the skin line and Verstappen moved throughout on him.
Talking to Purple Bull’s personal TV channel, ServusTV post-race, Marko mentioned: “The victory was misplaced by a number of components.
“The truth that the [second Verstappen] pitstop went incorrect, Lando slipped into the DRS window consequently, and in addition our assumption that the laborious tyres could be the higher alternative in scorching climate, which was not the case.
“The temperatures had been decrease, that means that Lando had recent tyres within the final stint and we had used ones, which was additionally an element.
“However I’d say that each drove unnecessarily laborious. We might maybe be blamed for this: we knew that an investigation with observe limits was underway towards Lando.
Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing
Photograph by: Mark Sutton
“However we did not know whether or not and the way he could be punished. So, with hindsight, you might have mentioned: ‘OK, let him go’.
“However let’s look on the brilliant aspect, we have prolonged our championship lead, each within the constructors’ championship and within the drivers’ championship.”
Marko, Purple Bull’s motorsport advisor, additionally reckoned Verstappen locking up and practically going off on his out-lap after his second cease was one other issue that “all this collectively made it potential” and allowed Norris to get a victory shot that had lengthy seemed unlikely.
Verstappen had managed the race to that time, along with his tempo on the medium tyres within the first stint significantly better than Norris’s, earlier than the McLaren began to shut in as their second stint on hards wore on.
Marko reckoned their late combat was “a very nice battle at occasions” till “it in some way degenerated into who was pushing who extra, who was violating extra observe limits, as an alternative of concentrating on ending pretty”.
