F1 News
Wolff reacts to allegations of "Mr Grumpy" Helmut Marko
- GPblog.com
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes are rivals this season. On behalf of Mercedes, team principal Toto Wolff has been fighting a fierce vocal battle with Christian Horner, his fellow Red Bull team principal, for almost the entire year. But the relationship between Wolff and Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has, especially after the death of Niki Lauda, completely cooled down.
Marko versus Wolff
Where at the beginning of the season it was all about stealing personnel, technical issues like alleged illegal parts on other people's cars and the bickering about the slower pitstop regulations, the constant crashes between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have only added more fuel to the fire.
And so, after the Monza crash, Marko accused Hamilton of putting on a show by feigning a neck injury. Before Lauda's death, Marko and Wolff at least had a common friend who could keep both competitors in check, but that appears to be completely gone now. Marko once stated, "We are a great team with passion. With Niki Lauda at Mercedes it wouldn't have happened because he was closer to the engine people," on Red Bull's snatching of staff from Mercedes.
"Mr Grumpy"
In turn, Wolff also cites a comment made by his old friend Lauda. To Soymotor.com he says that Marko's constant outbursts only give the Mercedes team extra strength: "Mr Grumpy is our strongest weapon. Niki always said: every outside attack strengthens our team."