Mercedes benefiting from rule changes? Marko launches theory

Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko says the penalty which saw victory of the Canadian Grand Prix taken away from Sebastian Vettel and given to Lewis Hamilton is just the latest example of the Silver Arrows mysteriously benefiting from decisions by F1's hierarchy.

Marko says the decision to penalise Vettel for re-joining the track unsafely in Montreal was incorrect, as the former Red Bull man had done everything in his power to avoid an accident.

"Sebastian did not do anything wrong," Marko told Auto Bild. "He had his hands full to keep the car on the track. Hamilton could just have passed inside or simply braked.

"The penalty for Sebastian is therefore unfair and leaves a bad aftertaste. The rules need to be urgently changed.

"Sebastian did everything right, and when he switched the placards, he publicly showed what he was feeling.

"I want to have drivers who stand firm in their opinions. I also said that to Max Verstappen, who two days after Monaco [where he was punished for an unsafe pit release and lost second place] accepted his sentence suddenly. He only did that because he did not want to have any further trouble.

"The punishment was not correct. And even then Mercedes benefited."

On the suggestion that Mercedes are being favoured by F1's rule-makers, Marko said: "Let's put it this way: It's noticeable that the rule changes and decisions have always been good for Mercedes lately.

"For example: Pirelli has changed the tire tread for 2019 so they will not overheat, but in 2018 only Mercedes had a problem with it.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko says the penalty which saw victory of the Canadian Grand Prix taken away from Sebastian Vettel and given to Lewis Hamilton is just the latest example of the Silver Arrows mysteriously benefiting from decisions by F1's hierarchy.

Marko says the decision to penalise Vettel for re-joining the track unsafely in Montreal was incorrect, as the former Red Bull man had done everything in his power to avoid an accident.

"Sebastian did not do anything wrong," Marko told Auto Bild. "He had his hands full to keep the car on the track. Hamilton could just have passed inside or simply braked.

"The penalty for Sebastian is therefore unfair and leaves a bad aftertaste. The rules need to be urgently changed.

"Sebastian did everything right, and when he switched the placards, he publicly showed what he was feeling.

"I want to have drivers who stand firm in their opinions. I also said that to Max Verstappen, who two days after Monaco [where he was punished for an unsafe pit release and lost second place] accepted his sentence suddenly. He only did that because he did not want to have any further trouble.

"The punishment was not correct. And even then Mercedes benefited."

On the suggestion that Mercedes are being favoured by F1's rule-makers, Marko said: "Let's put it this way: It's noticeable that the rule changes and decisions have always been good for Mercedes lately.

"For example: Pirelli has changed the tire tread for 2019 so they will not overheat, but in 2018 only Mercedes had a problem with it.

"In 2019 suddenly only Mercedes gets the temperatures always in the correct working window. All other teams cannot. It's funny.

"We all had the opportunity to react to it, but the concepts of the cars were all designed for less downforce. Only Mercedes chose they built a car with a lot of downforce and traction - in hindsight, that was exactly the way to get the most from the new-generation tires.

"Although I cannot prove that Mercedes got data earlier than we did, I cannot rule it out.

"At Red Bull we will look very closely at the future development of Formula 1 and there will also be discussions with Pirelli."

"In 2019 suddenly only Mercedes gets the temperatures always in the correct working window. All other teams cannot. It's funny.

"We all had the opportunity to react to it, but the concepts of the cars were all designed for less downforce. Only Mercedes chose they built a car with a lot of downforce and traction - in hindsight, that was exactly the way to get the most from the new-generation tires.

"Although I cannot prove that Mercedes got data earlier than we did, I cannot rule it out.

"At Red Bull we will look very closely at the future development of Formula 1 and there will also be discussions with Pirelli."

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