World champion Max Verstappen only ends the sprint in Miami after a 10-second penalty in 17th place. A misfortune in the Red Bull Box cost the Dutch a few points in the fight for the Formula 1 World Cup. How could this come about? Helmut Marko clarified after the race.
Used day for Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen. After a 10-second penalty, the Dutch in the Miami sprint in the final bill was only enough for the last place after the race behind the Safety Car had to be ended.
Verstappen got the penalty because he was left out of the box crew too early in his only stop and collided in the box with the Kimi Antonelli arriving from behind. To make matters worse, he also destroyed his front wing.
Marko reveals: one person made the mistake
“Unfortunately, the release came too early, which is why it came to the unsafe release,” explained Helmut Marko on the “Sky” microphone how the serious situation arose. After that, the race for Verstappen had already “run”, the consultant indicated that even without the 10-second penalty by the destroyed wing, no points would have been possible for the world champion.
What Marko also reveals: Ultimately, a single crew member was responsible for the faux pas. “The approval was triggered by one person. We knew that Mercedes was only four seconds behind us. The stops are usually good for us, but this time …” added the grazer noticeably.
Red Bull in the rain just too slow
For Red Bull, not only was the completely hidden stop, but also the missing pace at the beginning of the race. “We couldn’t go the pace of the McLaren in the rain. The tires broke too much,” admitted Marko.
Small consolation: After all, Yuki Tsunoda delivered a good sprint and became ninth at the end. “He drove a very good race,” praised Marko, but at the same time increased the pressure on his number two: “If he also delivers it in qualifying, he could become a safe point supplier.”