Red Bull chief vows to confront Schumacher over 'nonsense' Verstappen comment

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Ralf Schumacher produced a theory for Max Verstappen's moment of madness at the Spanish Grand Prix appears to have angered Helmut Marko, who slammed the German's 'nonsense'
Helmut Marko has dismissed a 'nonsense' theory about Max Verstappen after the Dutchman's moment of madness during the Spanish Grand Prix. Angry about two collisions he felt other drivers had caused with him late in the Barcelona race, he appeared to deliberately bang wheels with George Russell.
Fortunately, it didn't cause a crash or any significant damage, but Verstappen was handed a penalty which dropped him from fifth place to 10th. And it sparked widespread condemnation of his actions, which also led to three more penalty points on his licence which puts him just one away from a race ban.
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The general consensus has been that Verstappen suffered a fit of road rage which led to his petulant act. But, analysing the situation for Sky Germany, former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher offered a different theory.
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He mentioned a paddock rumour which claims Verstappen might be able to retire at the end of this season if he does not finish in the top three in the championship. Schumacher's theory was that he might throw away points on purpose to give himself that option.
But it is not a theory to which Red Bull adviser Marko will be subscribing to. "I don't know where he said that nonsense," was his retort when Schumacher's comments were presented to him by Austrian outlet OE24.
Marko admitted that Verstappen "could have handled the situation much more elegantly", but insisted that any rumoured release clauses in the Dutchman's Red Bull contract are "not relevant at the moment" and dismissed the details of them as little more than speculation.
He also made it clear that he plans to have words with Schumacher, obviously unimpressed by the rumours that the six-time F1 race winner has been spreading. Asked if he plans to confront the German, Marko replied: "The next time I meet him, I'll tell him straight away."
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Verstappen's penalty saw him take just one point away from the Barcelona race. To make matter worse, his main title rivals scored maximum points with championship leader Oscar Piastri securing his fifth victory of the season and Lando Norris finishing second behind his McLaren team-mate.
Verstappen is now 49 points off the lead, but with plenty of time to address that situation with 15 rounds remaining in the 2025 season. However, he offered only a glum outlook on his title chances after the race when he said: "We are way too slow anyway to fight for the title, that was clear again today."
Marko knows he will have to play something of a cheerleader role to lift Verstappen's spirits after a damaging weekend. He said: "I'm trying to cheer him up: We're not giving up, but something has to finally change with the car."