Helmut Marko jokes about gifting Charles Leclerc ‘box of Red Bulls’ after US GP
“I should send him some boxes of Red Bull I guess, but it was helpful because we were not under immediate pressure.”
Helmut Marko has joked that he will gift Charles Leclerc “some boxes of Red Bull” after his impressive defending against Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix.
Red Bull stormed to their third win in four races, with Max Verstappen taking a comfortable victory at the Circuit of the Americas.
Verstappen’s two wins in Austin mean he now sits just 40 points behind Oscar Piastri, with five rounds to go.
The Dutchman’s race was made easier by the fact Norris lost out to Leclerc at the start of the race. Leclerc was the only driver inside the top 15 to start on soft tyres.
The softer rubber gave Leclerc an early advantage, allowing him to sweep around the outside of Norris at Turn 1.
As Leclerc struggled with tyre degradation, he was forced to defend intensively from Norris behind.
This allowed Verstappen to build a substantial lead at the front of the field, ensuring Norris couldn’t challenge him in the final laps.
Speaking after the race in Austin, Marko noted Leclerc’s defending was “helpful”.
“I should send him some boxes of Red Bull I guess, but it was helpful because we were not under immediate pressure,” he told GP Blog.
“We had the speed even if Lando would have been straight behind.”
Verstappen has now shown race-winning speed at different circuit types.
He dominated at Monza and Baku - low downforce circuits - while he was a strong second in Singapore, which requires high downforce.
COTA is somewhere in the middle, combining low, medium, and high-speed corners.
Marko believes none of the remaining tracks will particularly suit any one team.
“No, because now there are not any more McLaren or Mercedes tracks,” Marko explained.
“We are talking about tens or thousands, the difference in the corners. And then we all know there is one difference and that’s much.”
Red Bull have the fastest driver, not car
Marko was keen to downplay Red Bull’s form, stating they have the “fastest driver” rather than the best car.
This came after McLaren boss Andrea Stella suggested Red Bull have stolen a march in the development race.
“No, I don’t agree. We have the fastest driver,” Marko replied.
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