Red Bull has lived on income for the last two years thanks to a car that seemed from the future due to its performance, and what he gave to Max Verstappen the possibility of equaling the three world champion crowns that, for example, Ayrton Senna won in his day. The fourth, the one that would place him at the level of Alain Prost in statistical terms, we will see when the Dutchman achieves it, if he does and with what team. The great revitalization carried out by McLaren over the last few months has been of such caliber that the Woking structure can be proud to recognize that, at this point in the season, when the World Championship enters its most decisive stage, it has the sharpest single-seater of all. After this Saturday’s victory in Austin, in the sprint test, Verstappen had a 54-point margin over Lando Norriswho finished third, just behind Carlos Sainzwho managed to surpass his colleague with a last kidney blow. Ferrari’s good work in dealing with tires and Mercedes’ recomposition add a little more spice to the duel between McLaren and Red Bull. With five stops to go before the championship closes in Abu Dhabi, at the beginning of December, the two teams escalate hostilities and throw things at each other.
There is no one better to champion this offensive by Red Bull than Helmut Marko, the octogenarian former Austrian driver who capitalizes on a very high degree of influence in the decisions of the red buffalo brand in the competition. His friendship with Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of the energy empire, made him practically untouchable. In the past he has used practically racist clichés to define Sergio Pérez’s character on the trackeven though I later wanted to rectify it. In the battle with McLaren until the end of the season, Marko takes no prisoners to try to destabilize the rival.
“Verstappen is the best; the fastest and, above all, has more mental strength than Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris to fight for the championship. We know that Norris has some weaknesses on a mental level. I have read about several of the rituals he does on race day because he believes that this way he will perform better,” said the Red Bull executive, in an interview given a few days ago in the German magazine, Motorsport Magazine. The one-eyed former runner was referring to some comments from Norris himself, in which the Briton did not hide the nerves he felt on Sundays.
McLaren did not take long to respond and Zak Brown, its director, did so. “I read Helmut’s comments, which I found unfortunate, but not surprising,” Brown responded. “Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health. Toto (Wolff, head of Mercedes) has also referred to this; so I think it’s a serious issue that we’ve tried to talk about and bring to light. Referring to that situation seems quite inappropriate to me and takes us back between 10 and 20 years.” With a different style from Marko, McLaren also knows how to tickle his rival for the title. In Austin he was one of those who asked the most questions to the FIA stewards, who spent much of the weekend investigating the legality of a device with which Red Bull can supposedly vary the height of the car when it is in regime. closed park. After giving the matter and also the car a thousand thoughts, the FIA decided to close the case.
