Helmut Marko thoroughly enjoyed the radio messages from McLaren during the Las Vegas Grand Prix. In the opening phase of the race, Lando Norris was instructed to attack Max Verstappen; the Brit had lost the lead due to a mistake at the start. According to Marko, McLaren stood no chance after that; Verstappen strung together one fast lap after another.
Lando Norris – who started from pole position – made an aggressive defensive move going into the first corner. Verstappen anticipated and forced his title rival onto the dirty asphalt; the Brit went straight on and was overtaken by both the Dutchman and George Russell. The latter was later outmaneuvered, after which Norris received a telling message from race engineer Will Joseph. “We’re going to get Max,” came the message over the radio.
Verstappen immediately countered, set the fastest lap, and increased the gap to his rival. In the end, he crossed the finish line with a lead of more than twenty seconds. Norris even had to back off in the final phase due to problems with his MCL39. Afterwards, it turned out that the skid block under his car had worn down too far. Both he and teammate Oscar Piastri were disqualified, resulting in a massive comeback for Verstappen in the world championship.
‘Max was setting one fastest lap after another’
Red Bull’s top advisor, Helmut Marko, later said that McLaren’s instructions made him laugh. “He (Verstappen) was easily able to control the pace of the pursuers and thus save the tires,” the Austrian told the German branch of Sky Sports. “We also stayed out longer than everyone else. Of course, we knew exactly what the condition of everyone else’s tires was,” he added. “The funniest thing was McLaren’s message: ‘Attack Max, overtake him.’ And then Max was setting one fastest lap after another, just to make a point.”
“But he did it with so much confidence and ease. We had zero problems. McLaren, on the other hand, did have some problems at the end,” Marko noted. “Norris was driving two or three seconds slower. Unfortunately, no one could take advantage of that.” At that time, Red Bull did not yet know that Norris would be disqualified. “It was a hit from the first lap,” Marko concluded proudly. “I don’t want to say that Max won the race at the start, but in the first corner, he simply forced Norris into a mistake.”
