Norris vs. Piastri: Marko’s Views on McLaren’s Internal Battle

May 28 – Dr Helmut Marko admits his ‘plan B’ outcome for the Monaco GP came to pass, thanks to dithering over driver hierarchy at McLaren.

The Red Bull advisor said before last weekend’s race that if it again proved a mismatch for the car’s characteristics, he at least hoped Lando Norris would return to form and beat McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.

Indeed, Max Verstappen ultimately could manage no higher than P4 on the grid and at the chequered flag – even though his actual points deficit to the McLarens was minimally affected.

“Yes, because this time Norris won and Piastri only came third,” Marko, 82, told Osterreich newspaper.

Unlike McLaren, with two strong drivers and also policy of driver equality, Verstappen does not have another Red Bull driver he needs to share top points with.

When asked how long McLaren can afford to let Norris and Piastri snatch points from one another, Marko smiled: “Ask McLaren that.”

The mood is actually high at Red Bull, because – Monaco aside – the latest updates powered a return to pole and race-winning form for Verstappen.

The quadruple world champion left the Monaco paddock on Sunday declaring that Barcelona could be another Imola-like weekend for Red Bull. “That’s our hope,” Marko agrees.

“Qualifying is also very important in Barcelona, because overtaking is very difficult on that track, too. If the tyres wear out, there’s still a chance to overtake on the start-finish straight and the back straight.”

Another hope for Red Bull is that the front wing flexibility clampdown that begins this weekend will hurt McLaren the most.

“That’s what is being said, anyway,” Marko commented. “I’m curious to see if that’s really the case.”

F1 veteran Fernando Alonso was asked on Tuesday about Verstappen’s chances of a fifth consecutive world championship, even though the Dutchman is currently 25 points behind Piastri.

“It can’t be ruled out because he’s another genius of Formula 1,” the Spaniard told El Mundo Deportivo.

“We talk about Adrian Newey, who can do special things, and I think Verstappen can do that too. He’s doing it this year, so you can never rule him out of the title fight.

“But yes, this fight is certainly the toughest he’s been in, and McLaren is probably the favourite,” Alonso concluded.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s father and co-manager Jos has suggested that Red Bull is currently doing enough to prevent the Dutch camp from triggering a contractual exit clause.

“They must be very happy at Red Bull right now that they have him on board,” he told De Telegraaf. “And I think they realise that too.

“He is just a very nice young man, but don’t make him angry – then he can be very mean. But not when he feels that his team is doing everything it can to win. And at the moment I think he does have that feeling.”

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