Helmut Marko poked fun at McLaren’s radio message to Lando Norris during the Las Vegas Grand Prix after race engineer Will Joseph told the Brit to attack Max Verstappen after overtaking George Russell.

The 26-year-old started the Grand Prix from pole position after an impressive Q3 showing on Saturday, but after defending aggressively from Verstappen off the line, Norris ran wide at Turn One, giving the Dutchman the lead and also dropping behind Mercedes driver Russell.

Norris eventually passed Russell on lap 34 with help from a tyre offset, after which he was told to “go and get Max” by Joseph on the radio. The Brit cranked out a couple of strong laps, but Verstappen then picked up the pace, making the most of the Pirelli rubber, which he had been saving throughout the race until that point.

From there, Verstappen opened up a lead of over 20 seconds as he stormed to his sixth race victory of the season, although this margin was bolstered by a fuel issue for Norris, which forced him to perform extreme lift and coast measures throughout the closing two laps.

Speaking after the race, Marko found Joseph’s radio message amusing. “He was able to easily maintain the pace of those behind him and therefore save the tyres,” the Austrian told Sky Sports Germany.

“We also stayed out longer than everyone else. Of course, we knew the condition of the competitors’ tyres, and the funniest thing was the message that came from McLaren: ‘Attack Max, overtake him.’

“And then he hammered in one fastest lap after another, just to make things clear. But he did it with such confidence and ease. We had no problems at all. Lando had some issues at the end, because he was two or three seconds slower.

“Unfortunately, there was no one there who could capitalise on that. But from the first lap… I wouldn’t say [Max] won the start. He won the first corner and practically forced Norris into the mistake.”

For McLaren and Norris, there was another sting in the tail. Both McLaren cars attracted the attention of FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer in post-race inspection and were later disqualified from the race for exceeding the permitted plank wear.

This means that, with two Grands Prix and a sprint race in Qatar remaining, Verstappen is now only 24 points behind Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, and is tied with Oscar Piastri for second.