Max Verstappen manager defended after Helmut Marko incident
Today at 12:10 PM
Max Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen has been defended by former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, following his altercation with Helmut Marko. Vermeulen was spotted by Sky F1's pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz shouting at Red Bull's motorsport advisor after the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Verstappen suffered his worst result of the season. Red Bull suffered a disastrous weekend in Bahrain, which saw several issues surface with the RB21. Problems also hit the Milton Keynes-based outfit's pit lane equipment, costing Verstappen valuable seconds at what should have been a routine stop, much to his annoyance and that of Vermeulen. Verstappen has revolutionised Red Bull since his maiden title in 2021, with Steiner accepting that he would let Vermeulen shout at him if it was the price to have the four-time world champion. When asked if he would "live" with Vermeulen shouting at him, Steiner told the Red Flags podcast: "Yes, because look what he [Verstappen] does. "Winning races, he's now third in the championship, still in distance [of the lead]. Now, what you do with this, a guy like this, motivates the rest of the team. "Otherwise, Red Bull, after winning so many championships, if you're not getting results like [Liam] Lawson or [Yuki] Tsunoda are doing now, the whole thing falls down, but Max is still going out there. "That motivates everybody on Monday to come in and work hard. So, yeah, as a boss, you have to take Raymond not being happy after Bahrain. No shit! Who was happy in Red Bull after Bahrain?"
