“I think that really annoyed him”: McLaren distraction that deterred Lando Norris from a win in Imola, according to Helmut Marko

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko feels that the incessant radio chatter from McLaren's engineer to Lando Norris cost the driver a possible win in Imola. The race was poised between Max Verstappen and Norris with the young driver catching up to the lead driver at a rapid rate.

The first stint had seen Max Verstappen comfortably pull out a significant gap on Lando Norris. The McLaren was a bit too hard on the medium tires and hence suffered early degradation. In the second half of the race, both of the drivers were on hard tires, and it was during this time that all of a sudden, Norris started closing the gap on Max.

As Lando Norris was doing that and pushing very hard, his engineer, Will Joseph, came on the radio and told Lando that he could push a bit more at turn 9, much to the bewilderment of the driver.

Talking to Sky Germany after the race, this was the moment that Helmut Marko particularly picked up when he said that it could have proven to be a deterrence to Lando. Marko said,

“It was an interesting radio message from his engineer. He was driving at the absolute limit and he said he should increase his speed. I think that really annoyed him [Lando]. It certainly wasn’t helpful when you were concentrating in a situation like that.”

Helmut Marko doesn't think the small wobbles cost Lando Norris the race

While chasing down Max Verstappen, there were a few wobbly moments caught by Lando Norris on the car. The driver was pushing extremely hard and the moments cost a few tenths as the car would momentarily lose control. When questioned if those moments proved to be the deciding factor, Marko didn't agree with the assessment.

According to the Red Bull advisor, both drivers pushed extremely hard, but Max was quicker on the medium tires while Lando was stronger on the hard tires. He said,

“If, if, if – I don’t think it was the deciding factor. The important thing was that we were doing well on the medium tyre and were slower than McLaren on the hard tyre. After two or three laps the temperature dropped and we didn’t hit the optimal tyre window.”

He added,

“An incredible performance from Max who drove absolutely flawlessly. Thank God Lando had two or three wobbles in his recovery that prevented him from getting into the DRS zone.”

The last three races have seen Lando Norris and Max Verstappen jostling it out for the top 2 slots. In China, Miami, and now in Imola, these two drivers have traded the top 2 slots and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out in Monaco.