Verstappen deserved penalty for Russell clash - Marko

Dr Helmut Marko has admitted Max Verstappen was rightly penalised for his controversial contact with George Russell during Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion was unrepentant in the immediate aftermath but later acknowledged on social media that the move was "not right."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also confirmed Verstappen apologised to the team in the post-race debrief.

Speaking to Red Bull's Servus TV, Marko explained the sequence that led to the incident.

"Max suddenly accelerated again after letting Russell past," the 82-year-old said. "That was a serious misjudgement.

"He was already at loggerheads with Russell. With the incidents and bad decisions, Max's emotions got the better of him.

"Sleeping on it certainly helped. When Max is in that mood, it's better to leave him alone."

As for the apology, Marko said: "He apologised later. And that was, of course, right."

The FIA handed Verstappen a 10-second penalty and three penalty points — leaving him just one point away from a race ban.

Marko described the penalty as "appropriate," but dismissed suggestions that a ban is genuinely on the cards.

"It won't happen that he behaves badly in Canada and then doesn't start in Austria," he said. "He's a racer who knows where his limits are."

Some suspect Verstappen was just as frustrated with Red Bull as with Russell — particularly after being fitted with hard tyres that left him vulnerable post-safety car.

However, Pirelli's Mario Isola backed the team's strategy, saying the soft tyres had already been overused during qualifying and the laps to the grid.

Marko, though, now concedes Red Bull made the wrong call.

"The only option left was the hard tyre, but putting it on was a mistake. The alternative was to stay out. McLaren would have had us, but we could have kept (Charles) Leclerc behind."

Looking ahead, Marko admits Red Bull is now trailing McLaren in the championship race.

"At the moment, Max doesn't have a car with which he can become world champion," he said.

"He's the only one who can handle that car at all.

If everything goes well, we're just as fast as McLaren — but only every third or fourth race. McLaren are always there.

"We're not giving up yet, but it will be difficult."

Finally, Marko joined Horner in rejecting wild conspiracy theories that Verstappen is sabotaging his own chances to trigger a Red Bull contract exit clause.

"There are the wildest theories," he said. "And it's not what Max wants. It's absurd.

"If he wanted to, he could already do things completely differently."