"That was a serious misjudgement," says Helmut Marko of Max Verstappen's lunge on George Russell.

The Austrian has joined the growing list of those critical of the Dutchman's move which brings him to within one penalty point of a race ban.

"Max suddenly accelerated and all hell broke loose," the Austrian told Servus TV. "That was a serious misjudgement.

"He was already at odds with Russell," he added, referring to numerous encounters last season. "With incidents and bad decisions, emotions have run high."

Post-race Verstappen was unwilling to talk about the incident but the following day took to social media to admit that what he did was "not right" and "should never have happened".

"Sleeping on it certainly helped," admits Marko. "Everyone goes their own way. When Max is in that mood, it's better to leave him alone."

In terms of the potential race ban, which means that Verstappen must keep out of trouble until at least the very end of this month, Marko is confident the Dutchman will behave.

"The punishment is appropriate," he said. "It won't happen that he behaves badly in Canada and then doesn't start in Austria. He's a racer who knows his limits.

"The whole weekend was sobering for us," he admitted. "Basically, we were three-tenths behind with a car that was too slow.

"We thought we were on a par, but we saw again that McLaren is vastly superior," he added.

"We hope that our car will be competitive again in Canada. At the moment, Max does not have a car with which he can become world champion. But only he can cope with it at all at the moment. If everything fits, we'll be just as fast as McLaren.

"But that's only every third or fourth race. McLaren is always there. We're not giving up yet, but it's going to be difficult."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ffracer, 14 hours ago

"@Spindoctor : I am calling you out lol. Close your eyes and pretend that you are Max Verstappen lol. Your team calls you in to pit, with 6 laps left and slaps on brand new Hards, you feel like you're on ice trying to get any heat in them behind a SC... your heart is in your mouth holding on to your sloppy racecar in a lurid slide... then Charles Leclerc gives you a slap down the front straight at 330 kmh (thank God you are Max because he handled the collision perfectly- heart further in mouth- and then George Russell throws his car into the first corner, resulting in another hard hit and sending you offroad- heart still in mouth but brain starting to fry... radio silence to your call to pitwall demanding action... you are still driving your balls off to stay in third and keep the rest of the world- all on mediums- when your best friend on the pitwall, beloved Lambiase, tells you to give up your place to George Russell, the gift of gab on the radio, who should have been given a penalty for potentially causing a massive crash into turn one and this alterboy, who can't hold a candle to your ability and racecraft, inherits your third place. George Russell. Cue eagle ye view of multi bomb explosion... tell me now, dear Spindoctor and all others on this esteemed forum panel, if you can feel his pain lol."

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2. Posted by Chester, 18 hours ago

"How often does a team honestly criticize bad behavior? Exceedingly rarely, and Marko seems to be the only one to do it.

Marko is a doer and a decision maker, so unlike the rest of the paddock."

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3. Posted by ARL, 04/06/2025 18:17

"Too little, too late.

To say "When Max is in that mood, it's better to leave him alone" shows that Red Bull have spent too long enabling Max in his petulant childish behaviour.

The only other Champion that I would add to Spindoctor's list would be Farina from an era when dangerous driving could be fatal.

It should not take being 1 point away from a race ban for a 4 time champion to decide to race responsibly - at least until some of the points expire."

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4. Posted by Spindoctor, 04/06/2025 16:52

"About time. Nobody doubts Max's talent, but his temperament is a different matter!
Apologists will always quote a few incidents with Senna, or Schumacher, but they were exceptional, not commonplace in the careers. If the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill Fangio et all thought making dodgy moves was all part of 'racing', I am unaware of it. I await pages of contradictory information....
"

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5. Posted by Hobgoblin, 04/06/2025 12:18

"Cannot help but think that this comes very late after the event, and that if the roles were reversed his statements would have come a lot quicker."

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6. Posted by Max Noble, 04/06/2025 11:52

"Calls it as he sees it. Got to love that. And in this case I agree with him. Hope V. Max learns more from this than Schumacher did from running Jacques into the bushes…"

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Marko criticises Verstappen's "misjudgement"

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