Helmut Marko said he had warned Sergio Perez against the exact move he made which led to him having to retire from the Austrian Grand Prix.
Perez's race was over after the first few corners, following a collision with George Russell. The Red Bull star attempted to overtake on the outside of Turn 4, but was clipped by the understeering Mercedes on the exit and was sent skidding into the gravel trap.
The Mexican managed to avoid his car getting beached and limped round to the pits for a change of tyres. But he had fallen a long way behind the rest of the pack, and picked up so much damage that, after a while, the team decided it would be best to just retire the car.
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany after the race, the typically stern Red Bull advisor Marko berated Perez for failing to listen to the warning he had given the driver earlier. "We said before the start 'do not go around the outside in that corner, that is not possible'," said the Austrian.
"This was just unnecessary. We've seen that before. It doesn't work. After that, the car was damaged and it made no sense to continue driving. There was a lot of damage to the floor. He might have finished two laps behind, so it didn’t make sense [to continue]. It was better to save the mileage."
It is understandable why Red Bull were so wary of that corner, having suffered a costly crash there before. In 2020, as Alex Albon looked set to secure his first ever podium finish in F1, he was clipped by Lewis Hamilton and sent tumbling to the back of the pack.
With that incident in mind, team principal Christian Horner couldn't help but make a quip as he reacted to the Perez incident after Sunday's race. "I don’t think Mercedes like our cars going around the outside at Turn 4," said the bemused team boss.
"It was a shame because Checo, you can see he's ahead there and it's almost a mirror image with Alex a couple years ago. There was so much damage.
"There was no chance for him to score any points so better to save the mileage. It's a tricky corner there but you know, we've seen so many incidents on the outside. It's just a shame that he wasn't given more space, but it's one of those things, we'll bounce back in France."
