Marko thanks Mexicans: 'Very fair, Verstappen was not booed'
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There were concerns from Red Bull Racing heading into the Mexican Grand Prix. After all, how would the Austrian racing team and Max Verstappen be received by the Mexican fans? The most severe scenarios were taken into account, but on and around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, to Marko's delight, everything went off without a hitch.
Marko and Verstappen not most popular
The 80-year-old Red Bull adviser did not endear himself by saying that as a "South American" Perez does not have the same consistency as Max Verstappen and, in the past, Sebastian Vettel. It met Marko with a storm of criticism, after which he publicly apologised. Perez accepted those apologies.
Mexican race fans are not Verstappen's biggest fans either. That, in turn, has everything to do with the fact that the Dutchman refused to help his teammate to second place in the world championship last year. Verstappen was even assigned two bodyguards for prevention last weekend.
In the run-up to the Grand Prix, the event's organisers also came out with a press release focusing on #Racepect: hoping that all teams and drivers would be approached in a decent, sporting manner. The organisers wanted to make it clear - without saying it out loud - that Red Bull Racing's teammates respect each other, so visitors to the race in the Latin American country should have the same.
Fine experience in Mexico
So there was apprehension from Red Bull because would it all go well? Yes, is the answer afterwards. Marko: "The visitors were very fair. Max was not booed, which happened a week earlier in Austin," he was quoted as saying by De Telegraaf.
The Milton Keynes-based team's top man went on to say, "Max didn't leave his hotel otherwise, but I didn't really care. I just went into town and also spent a few days alone elsewhere in Mexico earlier in the week. We really didn't have any problems at all. People just wanted to be photographed and said, welcome to Mexico. Because of the whole atmosphere here earlier in the week, I already had no idea that Max would have a tough time. That turned out to be the case."