“I Had No Idea”: Helmut Marko Addresses Max Verstappen Security Concerns After Another Dominant Victory

On the eve of the Mexico City GP, reports had been trickling out in spades that 3x champion, Max Verstappen had to beef his security up as he entered into Sergio Perez’s territory. However, in the aftermath of the weekend, Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has rubbished those apprehensions, per F1Maximaal.nl.

Marko had real cause for concern though. Recently he got himself entangled in an ugly controversy where he made xenophobic comments about Sergio Perez and claimed that he lacked the focus of other drivers because of his Mexican nationality. What’s more? The Mexican fans in attendance had another reason to dislike the Milton-Keynes-based outfit and their talisman, Max Verstappen, given Perez’s woeful run with the team highlighted by how Max Verstappen refused to help Checo secure P2 in the championship last year.

The Mexicans idolize their hero, Sergio Perez. However, they’ve started growing angrier by the day with the Bulls. It all boils down to the fact that the 33-year-old Guadalajara resident has been struggling with the car and for results while his teammate has been breaking records in the sport.

In reality, however, the team’s concerns were brought to nil by how welcoming the supporters actually were. Marko told De Telegraaf (as quoted by F1Maximaal.nl), “The visitors were very fair. Max  was not booed, which happened a week earlier in Austin.” He continued, “I just went into town and spent a few days alone elsewhere in Mexico earlier in the week. We really haven’t had any problems at all. People actually wanted to have their picture taken and said: welcome to Mexico . Due to the whole atmosphere here earlier in the week, I had no idea that Max would have a tough time. That turned out to be the case.'” 

Sergio Perez suffers final blow as Max Verstappen wins Mexico City GP

Perez has been struggling to get to grips with the RB19 as compared to his 3x champion teammate, Max Verstappen. However, as Perez finds himself stuck in a rut, Marko has been overly critical of the Mexican, rather than putting an arm around his shoulder.

Apparently, it all came to a head when yesterday, Perez crashed out of his home Grand Prix on the very first lap of the race into turn 1. After trying an opportunistic move round the outside of Charles Leclerc, Perez was flung off the track and into the run-off. He suffered massive floor and bodywork damage that meant he had to retire from the race. Verstappen went on to register yet another dominant win.

In the aftermath, Marko was uncharacteristically quoted by RacingNews365.com as saying, “It was a racing incident. You can’t blame Checo for anything. It’s too bad we lost 19 points to Hamilton [in the Drivers’ Championship].”