Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko wants to shake up his racing team Red Bull after the clear defeat of Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen in the duel with Lando Norris at the Dutch Grand Prix. “It is alarming. The team has to work harder, or both world championships are in danger,” Marko was quoted as saying by the specialist magazine “Autosport” after the first race after the summer break in Zandvoort.
McLaren driver Norris won the Grand Prix with a lead of almost 23 seconds over Verstappen. The Dutchman still leads the World Championship ahead of the Englishman by 70 points, but has not won any of the last five races. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull is only 30 points ahead of McLaren. “Our technicians have to come up with something. Coming second nine times is not enough,” warned Marko.
Verstappen appeared very cheerful. “This weekend was just a bad weekend. But the last few races weren’t really fantastic. That was a bit worrying in a way,” said the three-time world champion.
“But we know that we don’t need to panic. We are trying to improve the situation. That’s exactly what we’re working on.”
Norris once again messed up his start, but was then able to overtake Verstappen and celebrate a dominant second career win. “I have to get better. I’ve worked hard all year and I’m still 70 points behind Max, so it’s pretty stupid to think about anything at the moment,” said Norris about his World Championship prospects.
“I’m going to take one race at a time and carry on as I have been doing, because there’s no point in thinking about the rest. I don’t care about it at the moment.”