Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko has criticized Sergio Perez for his attempted overtake on George Russell on the first lap of the Austrian GP.
Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko criticized Sergio Perez for his attempted overtake on George Russell on the first lap of the Austrian GP.
Perez tried to pass Russell on the outside of turn 4 at the Red Bull Ring, but was touched by the Mercedes driver and spun.
The Mexican returned in last position and went into the pits to retire on lap 24, his RB18 suffering too much damage on impact.
Speaking after the race, Marko criticized Perez for trying to overtake at turn 4, saying that he had been warned about such a maneuver.
"We said before the start: don't go on the outside at that corner, that's not possible," he told the German.
"It was simply unnecessary. We've seen it before, it doesn't work. The car was damaged and there was no point in continuing to drive."
"The floorboard suffered a lot of damage. He could have been two laps behind, so there was no point. It was better to save the mileage."
Marko also cited an almost identical incident at the 2020 Austrian GP, when Lewis Hamilton touched Alex Albon when the then Red Bull driver tried to pass on the outside at the same corner.
"I don't think Mercedes likes it when our cars go on the outside at turn 4!" joked Marko. "It was a shame because Czech was already ahead (of Russell)."
"It was an almost perfect imitation of the incident between Lewis and Albon a few years ago. It's unfortunate we didn't have more space there."