Helmut Marko has added some extra fuel to the fire after Toto Wolff’s negative words about Max Verstappen’s record. At Mercedes, people are not impressed with the performance of the Red Bull Racing driver, but Marko sees a clear difference between the two parties. After all, Red Bull can concentrate on their own performance and does not have to worry about Mercedes. While the German team reacted negatively to Verstappen’s record victory, Sebastian Vettel contacted the driver in a friendly manner.
At Zandvoort, Verstappen already equaled Vettel’s record and a week later Ferrari was able to lend his former driver a hand. Carlos Sainz did his best to keep Verstappen behind, but one mistake was enough for the Dutchman to take the lead and ride to victory. With that, Verstappen therefore took the record for the most victories in a row, which can count on many compliments in the Formula 1 world. The record just doesn’t seem to interest Wolff.
After the Australian Grand Prix, the Mercedes team boss said that these statistics are only fun for Wikipedia and that nobody reads them anyway. Before the race weekend in Monza, Lewis Hamilton was clearly not impressed by the dominance of his rival from 2021. Verstappen was able to respond to this on the media day and stated that Hamilton and the Mercedes team are simply jealous. “I think it’s hard for them to deal with a loss at Mercedes after all those years in which they’ve won so much,” said the Red Bull driver.
Several analysts and former drivers have reacted with surprise to Mercedes’ statements. Damon Hill, among others, was not impressed by Wolff’s “rude” words. Marko also decided to add some fuel to the fire. “This is exactly the difference,” the Red Bull adviser is quoted by Motorsport.com. “We look at our own team and try to perform as well as possible. We are not involved with Mercedes as long as they are not serious opponents.
Vettel congratulates Verstappen
While Mercedes is not impressed by Verstappen’s record, the man whose record was broken, Vettel, has responded positively to the Red Bull driver’s performance. The four-time world champion has been in contact with Verstappen several times during the season and De Telegraaf reports that the former driver sent a message to the Limburger after the race at Monza. Vettel congratulated Verstappen on breaking the record and stated that he should continue to enjoy the current success.
