“It will be solved”– Helmut Marko on shadowy Bahrain track limit issue

“It will be solved”– Helmut Marko is disappointed with the track limits exploited by Mercedes; proposes a strict solution to it.

Red Bull had to yield its win in Bahrain to Mercedes as Max Verstappen surpassed Lewis Hamilton from the outer track limits, but at the same time Mercedes heavily exploited the outer track, and only after Red Bull’s repeated complaints stewards paid heed to it.

Helmut Marko shared his disappointment with the conduct and even rhetorically asked the officials whether this was even allowed. Later there was a warning imposed to prevent the exceeding of track limits.

“When you look at everything, you have to conclude Hamilton and [Valtteri] Bottas were at least five or six times [more] with four wheels outside the white lines in that infamous turn four.”

“That was because Mercedes asked them to push two tenths per lap,” Marko told Motorsport.com. “We interpreted that guideline a little too strictly. But at one point we asked the race management ‘is that allowed and can we do that too?’ The answer was ‘no, actually not’.”

“All in all, it was a bit of a shadowy affair. Sanctions were not forthcoming, while time was undeniably saved.”

It will be solved with a wall

Marko then praised Hamilton by revealing how the Briton was charging on Verstappen, while also pointed out an incident by Verstappen which was fatal to him.

“Hamilton is very sophisticated about these things,” said the 77-year-old Austrian. “He waited a relatively long time to catch up with Max again. This allowed his tyres to cool down for a while and he benefited from that in the remainder of the race.”

“Max had a little slider in turn 13 and picked up some dirt on his tyres. The race was over with that,” he added. Marko feels at that turn, a wall shall be placed as there is ample space, and teams would not opt for that strategy.

“It is completely unnecessary,” he said. “There is more than enough space there. If we just put a wall there, it will be solved. Anyone who hit the wall would damage their own car.”

“I don’t understand why we have so many run-off areas on circuits and why we don’t create a clear boundary.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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