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Helmut Marko was far from impressed with Ralf Schumacher's take regarding Max Verstappen. Schumacher, a former F1 driver, claimed that Verstappen was trying to provoke bad results to get out of the team amid Red Bull's struggles. Reacting to it, Marko said that he planned to confront Schumacher about it at their next meeting.
Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points at the Spanish GP for his collision with George Russell, which took his overall penalty points to 11. Currently, the four-time world champion is one point short of receiving a full race ban.
Amid this, Schumacher alleged that Verstappen had been making such moves to force an exit from the team amid his struggles with Red Bull. When asked to speak on this by the Austrian outlet OE24, here's what Marko said:
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"I don't know where he said this nonsense. But Max would be able to sort it out in a much more elegant way."
Following this, the Red Bull top advisor was asked if he planned to confront Schumacher about this. He replied:
"Other alleged exit clauses are popping up everywhere. None of that is relevant at the moment. The next time I meet him, I'll be sure to tell him."
Max Verstappen is tied with Red Bull till the end of the 2028 F1 season. However, reports have claimed that the Dutchman can trigger an exit clause if Red Bull fails to provide him a machine good enough for the world championship.
Helmut Marko trying to "cheer" Max Verstappen up amid tough Championship battle
Max Verstappen appears to be falling behind in the championship race this year. After nine races, Red Bull is still three-tenths slower than McLaren, and the team has not been able to make any progress to threaten the Papayas.
In the first nine races, McLaren has claimed seven race wins through Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, whereas Verstappen has won in Japan and Italy. However, the RB21 has not been able to consistently challenge the MCL39.
However, Marko is still optimistic and is trying his best to cheer on the best driver at Red Bull for the F1 title. Speaking about this, here's what he said:
"That's how it is. I'm trying to cheer him up: We're not giving up, but something finally has to happen with the car."
Currently, Verstappen is in P3 with 137 points after nine races and two Sprints. Oscar Piastri is leading the championship with 186 points, followed by Lando Norris with 176 points.
