Marko urges future FIA president to exert change… or else

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko says the energy drink company could reconsider its future in F1 if changes aren't made to how the stewards apply the regulations.

In Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Red Bull was on the receiving end of a favourable set of circumstances that allowed Max Verstappen to snatch victory from defeat and to claim his maiden F1 world title.

But the manner in which FIA race director handled the race's late safety car period and the restart was by all accounts ambiguous and confusing, not only for the sport's fans but also for many drivers.

Controoversial calls by the stewards have unfortunately been a recurring theme this season, and calls for Masi and his crews to get their act together and display more consistency and swiftness have grown louder in the back half of the 2021 season.

Marko is therefore calling for changes, and the Austrian is counting on the FIA's incoming president to shake up the apple tree.

"We will think about our future in Formula 1 if it does not have the desired effects on future championships," Marko said in Abu Dhabi.

"Decisions have to be quick and unambiguous. It has to be a matter of seconds and these decisions should not be different every time.

"They need to be simplified. It cannot be that the rules are interpreted differently every time. The starting point must be to let them race.

"It is not our job, but after so many mistakes have been made and unworthy decisions have been taken, there is certainly a great need for change," added the Red Bull representative.

"There will be a new FIA President, he should start working on this immediately."

• Read also: Hamilton called race 'manipulated' over team radio

The outcome of Sunday's title deciding race, or rather the process that led to Verstappen's triumph, was protested by Mercedes, but dismissed by the stewards.

However, the Brackley squad isn't giving up on its attempt to overturn the race's results, and it has signaled its intention to appeal the stewards' dismissal of its protest.

But an unimpressed Marko sees Mercedes' initiative guided by "sore losers".

"What happened is unworthy of a world title race," he said, addressing the German outfit's protests.

"It says a lot about their mentality. I think they are sore losers. That's their attitude, it's been like that all season.

"We don't care, we are the moral winners - whether it comes left or right."

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