Zak Brown has criticized Helmut Marko after the latter made comments about Lando Norris’ mental health.
McLaren F1 chief executive Zak Brown says Helmut Marko’s comments about his driver Lando Norris set F1 back 10 to 20 years. The facts date back to a few days ago, speaking to Motorsport Magazin, the special advisor to the Red Bull team declared that Lando Norris was suffering from “certain mental weakness”. As a reminder, the young British driver is Max Verstappen’s first rival in the race for the world title.
Helmut Marko took the opportunity to remind everyone that his pilot was the one best equipped to win this battle. “[Max] is the best, he is the fastest and, above all, he has the mental strength to theoretically fight for the World Championship more than Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.”
Also read: Button asks McLaren to favor Norris
If the Austrian does not question the driving qualities of Lando Norris, he points out what, according to him, could cause him to fail in his quest for the title.
“We know that Norris has some mental weaknesses. I discovered some of the ritual exercises he must do to perform well on race day”, said Helmut Marko.
Norris never hid the fact that he was anxious before each race, rarely managing to drink or eat anything.
After reading Helmut Marko’s words, Zak Brown said to himself:disappointed, but not surprised” and added that his pilot had worked hard to ensure that we talk about the mental health of pilots today.
“This is a serious problem that we have tried to talk about and highlight”, Brown said on Friday at the United States Grand Prix. “I think it is completely inappropriate to talk about this situation and it takes F1 back 10 to 20 years.”
According to the team director, these statements by Helmut Marko were perhaps made with the aim of destabilizing Lando Norris, but remind us that this method of intimidation was “in very bad taste.”
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