06/05/2021
NEWS STORY
One of the most consistent drivers in terms of falling foul of the track limits rules, Max Verstappen has called for more consistency in the way they are policed.
"Now we've lost the victory, fastest lap, and pole position," Helmut Marko told Sky Sports Germany in the moments after Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix.
"All good things come in threes," he added. "I just hope that's the end of it.
The Austrian was referring to the three occasions on which Max Verstappen has fallen foul of the rules this season; in Bahrain, where he was forced to hand back the lead to Lewis Hamilton after going wide and gaining an advantage while passing the world champion, and two incidents in Portugal which ended up costing him pole position and fastest lap.
Speaking ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, when the crackdown on track limits is almost certain to feature yet again, the Dutchman called for more consistency.
"I think we do need to find a solution," he told reporters. "Of course, I understand some tracks we race together with MotoGP and of course they want a bit different kerbs to what we like. But I think we need a middle way that works for both, because with our cornering speeds basically we can abuse the whole track with the grip we have with the cars, which makes it really difficult sometimes to really judge proper track limits.
"From my side I think we should try and put a bit more gravel in place," he continued, "but then sometimes that's not what tracks want as with track days you have people go off and the gravel comes on track and they need to clean it and it costs money to put it back in place.
"I think it is sometimes a bit confusing, looking from the outside where some places you can run on the kerb, some places are policed on the white line.
"I think we can make it a lot better by making sure there is a hard limit where you go off a kerb or whatever."
The youngster admits that part of his particular issue with track limits is no doubt due to his ongoing battle with Lewis Hamilton for the title.
"I'm trying to get everything out of the car when we are not on the same level as Mercedes," he admitted. "I can also just easily not be on that topic of using track limits or whatever but then I'm quite comfortably behind the Mercedes, which I don't like.
"I always try to get the best possible result out of it," he added. "But yes, I went twice basically outside of the track limit where it cost me a pole and a fastest lap but it's also because I don't settle for second or third."