Marko not happy with Verstappen action: 'He has to keep out of it'

Helmut Marko thought Max Verstappen was doing a great job again, but when he started to interfere with Valtteri Bottas' attempt to set the fastest lap, the Red Bull Racing advisor had a bit of a scare. The top man believes that in the future Verstappen should just let it go when he's in first place.

"It was a perfect day and it was unbelievable where Max braked", Marko is quoted by the German branch of Sky. After that, it was a rather boring race for Verstappen in which he had to pay attention to his tyres in particular. The 24-year-old Dutchman did have some time left to provide his team with strategic advice. Marko praised Verstappen's 'capabilities but was critical of one moment.

In the closing stages of the race, Valtteri Bottas went for the fastest lap. The Dutchman got in the way in the twisty final sector, hoping that the Mercedes driver (who was already a lap behind) would not be able to take the extra World Championship point from him. He let Bottas pass, but then pressed the accelerator again so the Finn would see blue flags and have to brake.

It cost Verstappen three seconds, although his margin on Hamilton was big enough. Despite this, Marko is not entirely happy with his driver's action. "He has to keep out of it. The fastest lap is okay, but the victory is the most important thing." Teammate Sergio Perez tried to snatch extra points from Hamilton in the final laps, but the Mexican came up just short of P2. "I think he would have caught Hamilton with one or two laps extra," said Perez.