SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Marko hits back at Wolff's Wikipedia jibe

Dr Helmut Marko says he will start taking Toto Wolff seriously again once Mercedes returns to being a "serious rival".

As well as being showered with boos by the Monza crowd last weekend, Verstappen's new all-time record for ten race wins in succession was played down by Wolff.

Wolff said it was a meaningless statistic that will only be recorded in Wikipedia - an online resource the Austrian says is not widely read.

Wikipedia is one of the most read mediums - maybe someone can tell Wolff, Red Bull's Marko told Servus TV.

Earlier, the 80-year-old had said Verstappen was uncharacteristically nervous before the start of the Italian GP.

This tenth victory in a row means a lot to him, Marko insists. "With every record comes even more motivation, and that also makes the team stronger.

So it's not insignificant. We are happy and we are happy to take these records with us.

As for Verstappen, he is quoted by Speed Week as commenting: Some fans just don't like who is currently winning. There is nothing I can do about that.

Marko, meanwhile, suspects that Mercedes' Wolff and Lewis Hamilton are simply guilty of sour grapes.

That's the difference between us and them, said the Austrian. "We look at our own team to get the best performance.

We just go about our business without making up all these kinds of stories like they do. But we don't worry about Mercedes as long as they are not a serious rival for us.

Marko even doubts that Red Bull's winning streak will necessarily end even in 2026, when the next set of regulations arrives - along with Red Bull's own engine.

Our wildest and toughest project is to set up our own engine project, he said.

We have already come a long way with that, and what we understand from the spies is that we are not at the front right now, but in second place.
(GMM)