It’s been a solid two years since that epic battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. 2021 was arguably the best season we’ve witnessed in quite some time now. Both Hamilton and Verstappen fought tooth-and-nail to achieve a nail-bittingly close finish to a championship season as the duo went into the final race equal on points! Oh, what would we do to get those days back again? Well, we could strap them both into the same car. But not on Helmut Marko’s watch.
For all intents and purposes, Lewis Hamilton is still a free bird, irrespective of the rumors that he has finalized a contract extension with the Silver Arrows. Naturally, talks are up in the air about where the Brit could land if he chooses to cut his ties with Mercedes. And while Red Bull is still an option mathematically, team advisor Helmut Marko has shut those thoughts down with a bizarre confession.
Dr Helmut Marko has ruled out Lewis Hamiltonpartnering up with Max Verstappen at Red Bull because the team wants it to be “clear who is the clearly faster number one and who is the number two driver”.#F1 #TeamLHhttps://t.co/gEu2Sl08CF
— Mercedes F1 News – SilverArrows.Net (@SilverArrowsNet) August 14, 2023
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Marko’s words are almost like a statement of admission and defeat all-in-one. Needless to say, as soon as these comments by the Austrian ex-racing driver went viral, fans rushed to the social networking platform to bombard it with their reactions.
Fans berate Red Bull over Helmut Marko’s Lewis Hamilton comments
Helmut Marko has probably never even attended a PR training event in his career. And that’s evident. Even though his intention may have been to close the doors for the 7x champion to their Milton-Keynes-based factory forever, his choice of words has enraged fans who have decided to ridicule the 80-year-old and the team.
As soon as this tweet went viral, fans rushed to the social networking site, Twitter to share their reactions. One fan even commented, “So he doesn’t want Max to be a number two.” Let’s take a look at just a few of the fan reactions to this viral Helmut Marko moment.
As if Lewis would look at Red Bull 🤣
— Brooksy18 (@christonkin2) August 14, 2023
Lewis would have to be on crack to go to that cesspit of a team.
— Bernie Ecclescake is on Mastodon (@BEighteenstone) August 14, 2023
So he doesn’t want Max to be a number two
— David Cope (@DavidCope63) August 14, 2023
He’s a coward
— Brenda Fox (@fox_f1fan) August 14, 2023
These comments arguably didn’t deliver Marko’s intended sentiments. Rather, it added fuel to a rather unpleasant fire that has been burning in the Red Bull garage over the course of this season. For fans, this is a clear admission of foul-play on the side of the team against Sergio Perez.
So by this statement, does it also explain why, since Baku, when Max couldn’t close down Checo, nothing seems to be going right for Checo? Does it also explain how Checo was caught so easily and dusted in Belgium by Max in an “identical” car?
— Abba (@abbamt2) August 14, 2023
This clearly explains why Checo suddenly became slow and messed up
— Muchadura (@St_Pauro_2050) August 14, 2023
So admitting to having number 1 and 2 drivers? 😂
— David Wood (@DJWood98) August 14, 2023
Hmmm….so limited expectations for Perez.
— Mike (@mikejt1954) August 14, 2023
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So, after all, that’s said and done, this only leaves us with one question:
Why would Lewis move over to The Dark Side? 🤔🤷🏼♂️
— F1 LH44 #TeamLH (@2000F1LH44) August 14, 2023
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Do you ever see Lewis Hamilton partnering up with Red Bull in the future?
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