Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko made a strange claim about Lewis Hamilton as he called for Formula 1 drivers to be banned from receiving instructions from race engineers in the middle of a race.
The Austrian clearly is not a fan of too much information being given to racers in the thick of the action. As it stands, engineers are able to provide drivers with a wide range of information about their cars and their rivals, helping them to better manage their race.
Marko feels this makes things too simple for drivers in the modern era. While he has no problem with racers being able to relay information back to the team, the 79-year-old called for a ban of race engineers being able to reply, advocating for a one-way channel to be introduced.
Speaking to German TV, he made the strange claim that Hamilton gets an unfair advantage when being spoken to by long-time race engineer Pete Bonnington. "It's partly like being in driving school," said the Austrian, as quoted by RacingNews365.
"You could limit it so that it only goes in one direction, that you only let the driver do it, but don't let him get technical support. It's like: 'You lose five meters in turn ten when braking and in turn three the other driver takes it a little more slowly'. So a driver gets all this information and that makes it easier for him."
While Hamilton has certainly benefitted from his relationship with trusted ally 'Bono', the same can be said of every driver on the grid as they can all speak with engineers during a race. Max Verstappen has a similarly strong bond with Gianpiero Lambiase, who helps guide the Dutchman through every Grand Prix.
Marko's comments come as he appeared to dismiss Mercedes' chances at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. The Silver Arrows looked stronger than they have been all season at Silverstone as Hamilton raced to the podium, but Red Bull expect this next race to be more of a challenge for their rivals.
"I think other teams will have more trouble with bouncing on this track," said Marko. "So they'll just have to raise the cars a little higher. We don't have any problems with it ourselves. We must not forget that the engine is a big part of our performance. Honda builds an engine that works well at higher altitudes. After all, our first victory with a Honda engine was in Austria."
