Marko hits out at Schumacher

Following comments made by Ralf Schumacher relating to Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko is preparing to give the German a piece of his mind.

One of numerous drivers-tuned-pundits – at some races they almost appear to trip up over one another on the grid – Schumacher likes to try and stand out from the crowd by throwing in the occasional controversial snippet.

In the aftermath of Max Verstappen’s red mist moment in Barcelona, which demoted him to tenth and brought him perilously close to a race ban, Schumacher suggested that the Dutchman had orchestrated the entire scenario in a bid to break his contract with the Austrian team.

Claiming that the Dutchman’s contract has a clause which allows him to walk away from Red Bull if he fails to finish in the top three in the world championship, Schumacher suggested that his actions were deliberate.

“I don’t know where he got that nonsense,” Marko responded to OE24 when told of Schumacher’s claim. “The next time I meet him, I’ll tell him straight away.”

Ahead of last weekend’s race, it emerged that while most of the existing clauses in his contract have been fulfilled, the one remaining threat to Verstappen’s future with Red Bull is that which states that he must be in the top four in the championship following the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of this month.

“All contracts have clauses which are mainly on performance,” Marko told reporters in Monaco, “but that’s not relevant at the moment.

“No, we hope that we bring the necessary quality of our car, then all these discussions are gone,” he added. “At the moment everything is clear. He said he wants to fulfil this contract, but we have to deliver a car which makes him winning, or at least have a chance to fight for the championships.”

“We are never going to discuss contracts with drivers in public,” said Christian Horner in Spain. “There is speculation about everything these days, it will be something else tomorrow.”

Asked if he is confident that Verstappen will see out his contract, which runs until 2028, Horner said: “Absolutely. Max knows the commitment from the team. We know what he expects from the team. He believes in the people around him.

“Nothing is ever absolutely guaranteed in life,” he admitted, “but everybody knows where they’re at.”

“I’m trying to cheer him up,” said Marko in the aftermath of Sunday’s race. “We’re not giving up, but something has to finally change with the car.”

Any naughties in Canada, certainly in terms of penalty points, would see Verstappen miss the Austrian Grand Prix, and with George Russell 26 points behind and Charles Leclerc 43, it is not entirely impossible that he could slip out of the top four, though highly unlikely.