"This was just unnecessary," says Helmut Marko, following Sergio Perez' move on George Russell in Sunday's Grand Prix.

"We're sick of saying it, and you no doubt of reading it, but the race cannot be won at the first corner, or Turn 3 or even Turn 4, but it can be lost," we opined in the intro to out race report on Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.

Sure enough, having made it through the first three corners almost intact, it was at Turn 4 that the red mist finally descended, with Perez attempting to go around the outside of George Russell, only for the Mercedes to tag the Red Bull sending it spinning off into the gravel.

Though Perez was able to continue, his race was essentially done and on lap 24 his team decided to call it a day, opting to save the mileage on his engine.

While the stewards handed Russell a 5s penalty for causing a collision, opinion remains divided, however, Helmut Marko is in no doubt, it wasn't a risk worth taking.

"We said before the start, do not go around the outside in that corner," he told Sky Sports Germany. "That is not possible.

"This was just unnecessary," he added. "We've seen it before. It doesn't work.

"After that, there was a lot of damage to the floor. He might have finished two laps behind, so it didn't make sense to continue. It was better to save the mileage."

The Mexican clearly hadn't learned his lesson, for last year he made a similar move on Lando Norris and once again ended up in the gravel, while in 2020 Alex Albon came off worse whilst trying to pass Lewis Hamilton.

"I don't think Mercedes like it when our cars go around the outside in Turn 4," said Marko. "It was a shame, because you saw that Checo was ahead.

"It's almost a perfect imitation of the incident with Lewis and Albon a few years ago," he added. "It's a shame we didn't get more space there."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 13/07/2022 23:27

"@ Hobgoblin...I was not suggesting a 'lift off' of a significant amount, just enough to allow Perez a safe passage through the corner after all Perez had the corner by placing his car totally alongside at entry. At this junction Russell could've easily made the corner as Perez had given him maximum space. A gradual lift off of minor proportions would've been enough to reduce centrifugal inertia and allwed Russell to hold a tighter line through the apex. The stewards would've acknowledge this fact as well hence the penalty. IMO, and not shared by many, is that Russell ran out of control and spatial awareness, although he would've been totally aware of where Perez was pre contact. Putting a pass on at that corner was always going to be risky but when has that stopped drivers going for it? That's what racing is...As I have said many times Russell's 5 secs penalty was nothing really. Perez lost big time. A drive through and 10 second stop and go would've been more appropriate. "

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2. Posted by Hobgoblin, 13/07/2022 11:54

"@kenji - the problem with lifting off when on the limit is that it unbalances the car, aero grip is reduced and front grip increases and rear grip decreases as the car pitches forward, and you get lift-off oversteer. At this point, the inside car will most likely spin into the outside car.
Either way, when the inside car is committed to a trajectory, anything that changes the balance most likely causes a loss of control."

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3. Posted by Defiant, 13/07/2022 4:56

"I cant believe I agree with Helmut"

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4. Posted by Endre, 12/07/2022 18:07

"Whether one agrees with him or not, this is something you say to your driver in private, not in public. Real shit move in my opinion."

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5. Posted by meatball, 12/07/2022 17:36

"It doesn't happen often but I finally agree with Helmut. There were a few passes on the outside during the race all more or less with the same outcome. Perez deserves the criticism. He Effed Up. "

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6. Posted by KKK, 12/07/2022 14:08

"I totally agree with Mr Marko, its madness to try and overtake on the outside, 3rd corner, cold tyres and brakes and a full load of fuel. There was only going to be one outcome. The Red Bull was a faster car and would have gone past Russell easily once DRS was active. "

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7. Posted by kenji, 12/07/2022 12:44

"In all the images I have seen it would appear that Russell would have seen Perez and would've/should've taken appropriate action. Either he lifted earlier or he just decided to run him out. Unfortunately he chose the latter and subsequently attracted a penalty. My beef is that the penalty was too light after considering the final result. "

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8. Posted by Hobgoblin, 12/07/2022 11:47

"I find it incredulous that these drivers don't seem to understand that, when taking these corners as fast as possible, they are committed to a certain trajectory. It doesn't matter who is ahead, the car on the inside cannot simply tighten it's trajectory to avoid the other car. If it tries, it will exceed the available grip and crash into the outside car anyway. Simple Physics. As is stated in race commentary - by ex drivers - every event, you cannot expect the car on the inside to disappear!
There is a difference between taking the racing line (ie committing to a certain trajectory) thus running the outside car out of road, and opening the steering mid corner to shove the other car off the road. The latter should always be punished, but drivers seem to think that the former is also punishable and thus cry foul when the inside car fails to evaporate."

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Marko unimpressed by Perez' move on Russell

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