Helmut Marko didn't like Zak Brown's reaction to his previous comments about Lando Norris and accused the McLaren CEO of
Speaking to Motorsport Magazin ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix, Helmut Marko suggested he was confident that Max Verstappen would go on to win this year's Drivers' Championship, mainly because he's mentally stronger than Norris.
Red Bull's motorsport advisor pointed out how he has heard about certain rituals that the 24-year-old McLaren F1 driver has to go through ahead of every single Grand Prix.
Lando Norris addressed these comments saying that his only ritual is to eat his chicken wrap and that he saw this just as Red Bull trying to play mind games.
😆 | Lando Norris addresses Helmut Marko's comments, saying his only ritual is eating his chicken wrap. 👉 | Marko previously said he believed Max Verstappen would beat Norris because he is mentally stronger. He also said that Norris has some rituals before every race. #F1
While Norris didn't take Marko's comments so seriously, the CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown, said he found them "disappointing," "inappropriate," and "pretty poor taste."
"Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health."
"I think it's a serious issue that we've tried to talk about and bring to the forefront. Poking at that situation, I think, is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back 10-20 years."
"It’s all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective, but I thought that one was in pretty poor taste."
Helmut Marko did not like the way that the CEO of the McLaren F1 team interpreted his comments and responded to them.
In the latest interview with OE24, the 81-year-old asserted he his comments were not about mental health and suggested Brown was attempting to cause unrest.
"But I never talked about mental health, only that Max is mentally stronger. You can't twist the wording. That's a deliberate attempt to cause unrest. But we know the games played by Zak Brown (McLaren boss, ed.), he deliberately stirs up trouble wherever he can."
