‘Verstappen needs better balance,’ says Marko

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko criticised Max Verstappen for what the Austrian described as a lack of patience and balance in last weekend’s US Grand Prix.

In addition to the blunder Verstappen caused when he pitted his Red Bull without having been called in by his team, the Dutchman expressed annoyance and impatience when asked by his team to preserve his tyres.

“I’m not here to finish fourth!” Verstappen snapped back over the radio. A remark which, according to Helmut Marko, summed up the young prodigy’s ill-fated impatience.

“You can’t demand too much of the tyres. He must learn this,” explicitly said Marko.

“If you don’t, you don’t win any races, any championships. He needs to find the right balance between attacking and patience.

“Compared to Daniel, he [Verstappen] has substantially higher tyre wear. It doesn’t make him faster.”

Indeed, a direct compare between the two Red Bull drivers reveals how much smoother Ricciardo’s driving tends to be.

A fact even a Red Bull engineer agrees with:  “Verstappen showed again in the second stint that he pushes the tyres too hard. When he was warned on the radio, he said he doesn’t want to finish fourth, but Ricciardo was wiser.”

TECHNICAL SNAPSHOT: Austin

Scene at the United States Grand Prix

2016 USGP – Quotes of the week

2017 driver line-ups so far

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