F1 News: Helmut Marko takes BRUTAL jab at driver after Japanese GP qualifying

Helmut Marko, Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Marko takes BRUTAL jab at driver after Japanese GP qualifying

Helmut Marko directs a brutal dig at a driver after Japanese GP qualifying.

Sheona Mountford

Saturday 6 April 2024 21:57

Helmut Marko has directed a cheeky dig at an F1 driver after their qualifying performance in Japan.

The Red Bull director is known for his blunt assessments of racing drivers, quick to replace them if they are underperforming.

Article continues under video

Former AlphaTauri driver Nyck De Vries was sacked midway through the 2023 season, with Marko stating ‘he didn’t meet expectations’.

Other F1 drivers to come under the scrutiny of Marko and Red Bull have been Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon, who now both drive outside of the Red Bull family.

Marko makes brutal comment about Sergio Perez

Marko has also been critical over current Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, particularly when he was struggling with performance last season.

Comments included calling his Monaco crash ‘unreasonable’ and that he lacked the 'mental focus' of world champions Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.

So far Perez has had a solid start to 2024 finishing second to Verstappen in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

However, Marko has identified there are still issues with his qualifying pace, and made a dig at the Mexican driver after he qualified P2 at the Japanese GP.

“It’s been a long time since Perez was on that front row, I have to dig into my memory for that,” he said to ORF according to PlanetF1.

Marko also complimented Perez on his qualifying performance, indicating he had shown improvement from last year.

“I think Perez was better than expected, especially after his bad weekend here last year. He’s gotten better since then.

“Right here at this circuit, which is a real driver’s circuit after all, the corners of Sector 1 are among the fastest corners and in them Perez was able to keep up with Max very well.”

F1 Red Bull Helmut Marko Pierre Gasly Nyck de Vries Alexander Albon