Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris should take the blame over their contentious clash in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Norris were battling over the lead in the closing exchanges in Spielberg when the two incurred punctures from a touch at Turn 3 with seven laps to go.
Norris, who complained about his rival moving under braking prior to the incident, ended up on Verstappen’s tail due to a slow 6.5-second stop from the Red Bull crew.
But while Marko admitted that had an impact, the Austrian contends the collision could’ve been avoided had Verstappen been told about Norris’ track limits breaches.
The Briton had been shown the black-and-white flag over three infractions and was under investigation again due to a failed overtaking lunge on Verstappen at Turn 3.
Norris would be given an automatic five-second penalty later in the race, but it proved inconsequential as the McLaren driver retired from the clash with the Dutchman.
Speaking to Servus TV once the dust had settled on the events that occurred which handed Mercedes a win, Marko explained: “The victory was lost by several factors.
“The fact that the [second Verstappen] pitstop went wrong, Lando slipped into the DRS window as a result.
“And also our assumption that the Hard tyres would be the better choice in hot weather, which was not the case.
“The temperatures were lower, meaning that Lando had fresh tyres in the last stint and we had used ones, which was also a factor.
“But I would say that both drove unnecessarily hard. We could perhaps be blamed for this: we knew that an investigation with track limits was underway against Lando.
“But we didn’t know whether and how he would be punished. So, with hindsight, you could have said: ‘OK, let him go’.
“But let’s look on the bright side, we’ve extended our championship lead, both in the Constructors’ Championship and in the Drivers’ Championship.”
Marko expressed that he relished the duel between the two up until the point where it developed into a battle where both drivers resorted to using unpleasant tactics.
“It was a great fight until it somehow degenerated,” he added. “Who brakes where, who grabs more track limits, instead of focusing on a fair finish.”
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