Helmut Marko criticizes George Russell

An eternal restart. Every year, it’s an inevitable clash. On the Red Bull Ring, the braking zone of turn 4 is one of the main spots for overtaking. Often, the defending drivers position themselves on the inside, while the pursuing driver tries the outside. But the maneuver often goes wrong as the one on the outside ends up in the gravel.

It happened to Alex Albon in 2020, to Charles Leclerc in 2021, and this year to Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver, who was trying to overtake George Russell at that spot, got sent into the gravel after a slight contact, causing significant damage to his race car.

Knowing the risks of an overtaking attempt in this turn, Helmut Marko, director of Red Bull’s young driver program, had warned his drivers. He had instructed them not to attempt anything here. However, Sergio Perez did it.

I don’t think Mercedes likes it when our cars turn outside in turn 4.

« We had said before the departure: do not attempt the outside in this turn. It’s not possible, he admitted to Sky Sport Germany after the race.

« It was simply unnecessary. We had already seen that. It doesn’t work. After that, the car was damaged and it made no sense to keep driving. »

« There has been a lot of damage on the floor. He might have ended up being two laps behind, so it didn’t make sense [to continue]. It was better to save on mileage.

»

The Austrian regrets that there isn’t more space at this place to avoid this kind of incident, which often happens between Red Bull and Mercedes. « I don’t think Mercedes likes it when our cars go wide in turn 4. It’s a shame, because you saw that Checo [Perez] was ahead. »

This accident continues the black streak for Sergio Perez, who after a very good start to the season, seems to be plagued by bad luck. He now has a 57-point deficit compared to his teammate, while he was fighting for first place not so long ago.