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Helmut Marko claims Lando Norris’ team radio made the Briton ‘nervous’ while battling Max Verstappen for Emilia Romagna GP

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aditya Pandya | Last updated 5/20/24

Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna GP after an intense last-lap battle with Lando Norris . The Briton came extremely close to the Dutchman towards the last few laps due to the former’s RB20 issues. However, Helmut Marko reckoned that a few radio calls from Norris’ race engineer might have cost him the race win.

Lando Norris after the race said that a few more extra laps could’ve helped him overtake Max Verstappen. The Dutchman faced several challenger issues and hence was on the brink of losing. Regardless, the 24-year-old made several mistakes during the last few laps which disabled him a chance at DRS. Helmut Marko highlighted this very fact and added that an ‘interesting’ radio call from his race engineer cost Norris the race.

Fortunately Norris made some mistakes when he was chasing Max, preventing him from entering the DRS zone. In particular there was an interesting radio team from his engineer. Helmut Marko said, as reported by formulapassion.it.

The Red Bull advisor highlighted that the Brit was pushing himself to the limit while battling against Max Verstappen. The McLaren chassis is considered rather strong around the Italian circuit of the Emilia Romagna GP. However, the radio call to Norris which asked him to ‘push further’ caused him to lose concentration, costing him a potential Grand Prix win.

He was going to the limit and was told to push even further and this probably made him nervous. This is something negative in terms of concentration in a situation of that type. Helmut Marko added.

Helmut Marko claimed that Max Verstappen drove ‘flawlessly’ at the Emilia Romagna GP

Max Verstappen won the Imola race despite major issues in his chassis. Hence, he received multiple praises from various people in the paddock. Christian Horner even called the reigning world champion a ‘racing machine’ after he won two races on the same day. Verstappen also won the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring sim race.

Hence, Helmut Marko reckoned that Verstapen’s performance in the 63-lap Imola race was incredible. The fact that the Dutchman won despite facing such issues was commendable. Additionally, the 80-year-old claimed that the race winner drove around the circuit ‘flawlessly’ despite a few close calls with Norris.

Max's performance was incredible and he drove flawlessly. Helmut Marko concluded.

Red Bull will work over the issues that came up at the Emilia Romagna GP. The team isn’t in the extreme lead like the 2023 season. Hence, Milton Keynes will have to keep up with in-season upgrades to maintain the lead over rivals. Outfits like Ferrari and McLaren have come close to the Austrian constructor on multiple occasions this year.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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