F1 News: Helmut Marko Ridicules Toto Wolff's Max Verstappen Claim - 'Leave Me Alone'

Saajan Jogia | Apr 9, 2024

Oct 23, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Helmut Marko (left) and Red Bull Racing Limited driver Max / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Shortly after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expressed his desire to have Max Verstappen join the Mercedes F1 team, Wolff joked that Verstappen had already clinched the 2024 championship title for himself as a result of his "spectacular" driving. However, this assertion was swiftly rebuffed by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who emphasized that the season is still in its infancy.

Key Takeaways:

• Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff joked that Max Verstappen has already secured the 2024 championship, following his impressive performances.
• Red Bull's strong start to the season, with three victories out of four races, indicates their continuation of success from the previous year. Helmut Marko ridiculed Toto Wolff's claims of Max Verstappen having secured the 2024 championship.
• Despite Mercedes' innovative W15 F1 car, it struggles to match the performance of both Red Bull and Ferrari, with Wolff acknowledging Verstappen's dominance in the championship race.

From the looks of the four Grands Prix of the 2024 season, Red Bull seems to have carried forward its winning streak from last year as it secured victories in three out of the four races, won by Verstappen. The only race where the Milton Keynes outfit missed out on a win was in Australia, where Verstappen's RB20 suffered a brake failure issue, leading him to conclude the session with a DNF, and Sergio Perez encountered issues from a visor strip in the floor.

When it comes to Mercedes, their latest innovation, the W15 F1 car, has yet to demonstrate its potential. Not only has it failed to match Red Bull's performance, but it also struggles to keep up with Ferrari's SF-24, currently the second-fastest car on the grid.

Oct 21, 2022; Austin, TX, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell's car sparks on a bump / Austin American Statesman-USA TODAY

Hence, Wolff has acknowledged the likelihood of Verstappen securing his fourth title this year, even as the competition tightens with twenty races remaining in the season. Praising the Dutchman, he said after the Japanese Grand Prix:

"No-one is going to catch Max this year.

"His driving and the car are just spectacular. You can see the way he manages the tyres and basically this season now is best of the rest. If I was to look from a pure sporting point of view it is P1 what matters, not P2, P3 or P4 but this is the reality that we are facing at the moment.

"We're trying to do the best out of this new reality and that is to beat our competitors whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job and setting the benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again."

However, when Marko was asked by OE24 for his opinion on Wolff's claims, he ridiculed them stating:

"Please leave me alone!

"We've only done four races, 20 more to come. In Melbourne we saw how quickly everything can change. Ferrari is strong and reliable, we can't write them off yet."

Oct 23, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Helmut Marko of Red Bull Racing Team holds up the World / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports