15/04/2018
NEWS STORY
Never one to pull his punches, Red Bull's motor sport boss Helmet Marko is in no doubt that Max Verstappen was the architect of his own failure in today's Chinese Grand Prix.
Along with the race stewards - who handed the Dutchman a 10s time penalty for his clash with Sebastian Vettel, which subsequently saw him demoted from fourth to fifth - Marko lays the blame entirely at the youngster's door.
"Max overdid it by trying to overtake Vettel," he told Movistar. "Yes, it was a mistake from him and he apologised. That can happen in racing."
Seen in 'conversation' with the Dutch sensation after the race, when asked what had been said, Marko replied: "That his time will come. He just shouldn't overdo it. He knows what he lost. There was a victory for him on the table, but he gave it away.
"But still it was a very good drive from both our drivers," he added. "He is nineteen or twenty, he's bloody young, and it can happen."
On a day that saw Daniel Ricciardo take a popular win and turn the formbook on its head, Marko was keen to laud the real heroes of the weekend.
"It all started on Saturday when our mechanics managed to change the engine," he said, referring to the work that got Ricciardo back on track in the final moments of Q1 after suffering a turbocharger issue in FP3. "Otherwise Ricciardo would have started last and then I don't think this result would have been possible. So big thanks to the whole team. Everybody did a fantastic job and the right thing."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Shanghai, here.