Red Bull regrets not warning Verstappen about the investigation against Norris at the Austrian GP

The fact that Red Bull did not warn Max Verstappen that Lando Norris was under investigation because of the track limits could possibly have prevented the late accident at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix in Formula 1, says Helmut Marko.

Verstappen and Norris collided in the closing stages of Sunday’s race at the Red Bull Ring after the McLaren driver went off the track three times and received a black-and-white caution flag for track limits before going off the track at Turn 3 of the track in their second collision.

This later earned Norris a five-second time penalty, which is automatically given under F1 rules when a track limit warning is issued. But before that could happen, the pair had collided at Turn 3 – this time when the McLaren driver attacked on the outside line and Verstappen passed him.

Speaking to Red Bull’s own television station ServusTV after the race, Marko said: “The victory was prevented by several factors.

“The fact that the (second Verstappen) pit stop went wrong, causing Lando to slip into the DRS window, and also our assumption that the hard tyres would be the better choice in hot weather, which was not the case.”

“The temperatures were lower, which meant that Lando had fresh tyres in the last stint and we used them, which was also a factor.

“But I would say that both drove unnecessarily hard. That could perhaps be blamed on us: We knew that Lando was under investigation for track limits.

Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton

“But we didn’t know if and how he would be punished. So in hindsight you could have said: ‘Okay, let him go.'”

“But let’s look on the positive side: we have extended our lead in the championship, both in the constructors’ and drivers’ standings.”

Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant, also said that Verstappen’s blocking and near-shutout on the out lap after his second stop was another factor that “all combined to make it possible” and gave Norris a chance of winning that had long seemed unlikely.

Verstappen had controlled the race up to this point and was significantly faster than Norris in the first stint on the medium tyres, before McLaren closed in during the second stint on the hard tyres.

Marko said their subsequent battle was “really great at times” until it “somehow degenerated into a question of who was pushing who more, who was ignoring the track limits more instead of concentrating on finishing fairly.”