You finished third and your back doesn’t hurt anymore, huh?! Helmut Marko criticised Mercedes, Hamilton and the FIA’s decision

Helmut Marko, advisor to the Red Bull Racing team and head of the Red Bull driver development programme, was quite scathing in his criticism of the behaviour of the Mercedes team led by Lewis Hamilton. Marko also alluded to the FIA’s decision and their directive, saying the federation’s intervention was wrong.

The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has issued a new directive ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix to help teams resolve the problems associated with bouncing monoposts on the straights in the medium term.

Objectively, however, it can be noted that the FIA has clearly been backed into a corner in this case, succumbing to the constant moaning of Mercedes and other drivers.

In fact, we reported more about porpoising and the FIA’s decision in an earlier article.

All the performers seem to agree that the Baku circuit was the worst in terms of porpoising. And it was after that Grand Prix that Hamilton remarked that he never wanted to experience such conditions again. He found it very difficult to get out of the car and his back pain was very evident.

And that’s why Marko suspects Hamilton and the whole of Mercedes that it was more of a political game than a really sore back.

So after the race in Canada, where Hamilton finished on the podium, Marko did not forgive himself a dig. “After the last grand prix, he had trouble getting out of the car. But today he jumped out of the car really fast. I guess it doesn’t hurt so much when he’s on the podium,” he told F1 Insider after the Canadian GP, as quoted by Racing News.

Marko also took issue with the FIA’s decision, which he said he felt was unfair.

“One team, Mercedes, has the biggest problems with bouncing and the FIA is responding by changing the guidelines mid-season. There is a simple solution, just lift the car and you’re done, but you lose speed.”

“The fact that they are now reacting in this way and trying to impose such powers on the FIA, which practically determine the set-up of the cars, is a quick solution that certainly hasn’t been thought through. I don’t think the FIA’s decision is the right one,” Marko is angry.

Sources