Helmut Marko believes that Max Verstappen “wasn’t very diplomatic” during his comments directed at the Abu Dhabi race marshals after being penalized.
It is rare that Helmut Marko allows himself the slightest comment other than rave about his four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Nonetheless, Red Bull's special advisor has warned his driver of the imminent possibility of him receiving a ban from racing at an F1 GP in 2025.
The Dutchman effectively has eight penalty points on his FIA Superlicence after collecting two penalty points for a collision with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty from race marshals for the incident, ultimately finishing in sixth place in the final race of the 2024 season. Although there was nothing at stake for the drivers' world title, nor ultimately the manufacturers' title, the consequences could be felt in 2025.
The penalty points regulations in F1 state that any driver who receives 12 points in a rolling 12-month period will have to forfeit participation in the next race in which they are scheduled to take part. So far, this system has only penalized one driver, Kevin Magnusse, during this season. The Dane had to leave the wheel of his Haas to the Briton Oliver Bearman in Azerbaijan, who will have been seen at the wheel of two machines in GP this year, after replacing Carlos Sainz during his appendicitis attack.
With Fernando Alonso also having eight cumulative penalty points, Verstappen risks being forced to forfeit a round next season as he attempts to retain his title.
Just four points away from a racing ban, Verstappen must navigate the first 11 rounds of the 2025 season carefully before two penalty points can be removed from his account on June 30, 2025, the day after the Austrian Grand Prix.
Speaking to Sky Deutschland, Marko said: “He took another two points and is now at eight, we have to be careful. Some commissioners give harsher punishments, but it’s a problem that everyone has and it was mentioned that more consistency would be better.”
If Verstappen reaches 12 points before the end of June, he will become the first reigning Champion to be banned from a race – a record he won't be keen to achieve this time around!
In Abu Dhabi, the 27-year-old driver announced that he and his partner Kelly Piquet were expecting a baby, and Verstappen therefore thought of a clever plan: “Yes, maybe I'll upgrade to 12 [points] when the baby is born”he joked.
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