F1: Marko mocks Wolff’s ‘Wikipedia’ sour grapes
(GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has mocked sore loser Toto Wolff and his sour grapes ‘Wikipedia’ jibe because Red Bull is kicking his posterior.
Marko says he will start taking Toto Wolff seriously again once Mercedes returns to being a “serious rival”.
As well as being showered with boos by the Monza crowd last weekend, Verstappen’s new all-time record for ten race wins in succession was played down by Wolff.
Wolff said it was a meaningless statistic that will only be recorded in Wikipedia – an online resource the Austrian says is not widely read.
“Wikipedia is one of the most read mediums – maybe someone can tell Wolff,” Red Bull’s Marko told Servus TV.
Earlier, the 80-year-old had said Verstappen was uncharacteristically nervous before the start of the Italian GP.
“This tenth victory in a row means a lot to him,” Marko insists. “With every record comes even more motivation, and that also makes the team stronger.
“So it’s not insignificant. We are happy, and we are happy to take these records with us.”
As for Verstappen, he is quoted by Speed Week as commenting: “Some fans just don’t like who is currently winning. There is nothing I can do about that.”
Marko, meanwhile, suspects that Mercedes’ Wolff and Lewis Hamilton are simply guilty of sour grapes.
“That’s the difference between us and them,” said the Austrian. “We look at our own team to get the best performance.
“We just go about our business without making up all these kinds of stories like they do. But we don’t worry about Mercedes as long as they are not a serious rival for us.”
Marko even doubts that Red Bull’s winning streak will necessarily end, even in 2026, when the next set of regulations arrives – along with Red Bull’s own engine.
“Our wildest and toughest project is to set up our own engine project,” he said.
“We have already come a long way with that, and what we understand from the spies is that we are not at the front right now, but in second place.”
Related article: Tracking Verstappen’s march to F1 greatness
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Speaking on Sky’s F1 podcast, Nico Rosberg refuted the notion that records are meaningless.
“We all care about records, of course,” Rosberg said. “And we think a lot about records. So even Max who always says ‘no, I don’t care about 10 races.’
“What does he do when he gets out of the car? He puts both of his hands up and points to the world that that’s 10 in a row.”
“I think Toto got in a moment there where he was not too happy about his own race team’s performance on the weekend,” Rosberg added. “Because of course where they finished, fifth and sixth, miles behind Ferrari and Red Bull is not really the goal.
“So I think Toto was just a bit down there and that made his answer a bit darker and not quite as gracious. Not quite as gracious as perhaps he would normally be because I think the right answer would have been hats off and respect to Red Bull for their achievements.”
Three-time world champion Stewart has major doubts that Hamilton will be able to achieve his ambition of an 8th world title.
“First of all, Lewis is one of the best to ever drive in Formula 1,” Stewart told German publication Bild.
“But the truth is that in the last decade, he competed with Mercedes for a team that was virtually out of competition.
“During this time, Lewis only had one real competitor: his respective teammate. Except for 2016, he always emerged victorious from the duel.
“And then he lost to Nico Rosberg. With respect: a good driver, but not the most talented in the world.
“But Rosberg was hungry and had the absolute will to become world champion. Lewis no longer has that hunger.
“Because of that – and because the car is no longer quite as powerful – he has serious problems.”