Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has voiced his backing for Felipe Massa’s endeavour to claim the 2008 World Championship title from Lewis Hamilton.
In doing so, Marko took a dig at Hamilton’s recent remarks, where he expressed indifference towards statistics.
It’s worth noting that Massa’s legal pursuit to challenge the outcome of the 2008 World Championship has received minimal attention within the F1 community, with Hamilton himself displaying little concern regarding Massa’s efforts.
Hamilton and Toto Wolff engaged in a verbal dispute with Red Bull, triggered by the seven-time world champion’s comments about the quality of Max Verstappen’s teammates throughout his career.
Additionally, Hamilton downplayed Verstappen’s pursuit of a record 10th consecutive race victory leading up to the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month.
“I mean I don’t care about statistics in general, good for him,” Hamilton said when questioned about his rival’s achievement.
Marko seems to have turned Hamilton’s comments to his advantage by expressing his backing for Massa’s legal pursuit.
The Red Bull advisor believes that if Massa’s legal team can uncover fresh evidence, he may have a strong case to contest the outcome of the 2008 World Championship.
In an interview with Kronen Zeitung, Marko stated: “It was terrible to see Massa celebrating for 20 seconds that he had won the title in Brazil, and then suddenly it was all gone.”
“I would love to see him win the title – and Hamilton, for whom records are not so important, would then have one less.”
“I don’t know, I think we were relatively competitive last year, but we had not such a great race,” he acknowledged. “But given the car we had last year, I’m hoping the car has progressed quite a lot since last year.
“So hopefully, we are maybe a little bit closer that to the front. I’m hoping we can fight for a podium. I’ll find out tomorrow with everybody, but that’s the reality.”
Marko expressed astonishment at the delayed revelation of ‘Crashgate’ stemming from the Singapore Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, the primary apprehension for the Red Bull executive regarding Massa’s legal dispute is whether it might lead to unforeseen complications.
“Even the choice of lap for the stop was suspicious,” he added. “Afterwards, it was an open secret. I just wondered why it took so long for this matter to come to light.
“If there are new facts, then the case can be solved. And then the chances for Massa are not so bad.
“The only question is, where would we end up if we have to re-evaluate many other races where incidents have also occurred?”
Helmet Barko, King of the Bell Ends.