Helmut Marko has dismissed a 'nonsense' theory about after the Dutchman's moment of madness during the . Angry about two collisions he felt other drivers had caused with him late in the Barcelona race, he appeared to deliberately bang wheels with .

Fortunately, it didn't cause a crash or any significant damage, but . And it sparked widespread condemnation of his actions, which also led to three more penalty points on his licence which puts him just one away from a race ban.

The general consensus has been that Verstappen suffered a fit of road rage which led to his petulant act. But, analysing the situation for Sky Germany, former driver offered a different theory.

He mentioned a paddock rumour which claims Verstappen might be able to retire at the end of this season if he does not finish in the top three in the championship. Schumacher's theory was that he might throw away points on purpose to give himself that option.

Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox!

But it is not a theory to which will be subscribing to. "I don't know where he said that nonsense," was his retort when Schumacher's comments were presented to him by Austrian outlet OE24.

Marko admitted that Verstappen "could have handled the situation much more elegantly", but insisted that any rumoured release clauses in the Dutchman's contract are "not relevant at the moment" and dismissed the details of them as little more than speculation.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

He also made it clear that he plans to have words with Schumacher, obviously unimpressed by the rumours that the six-time F1 race winner has been spreading. Asked if he plans to confront the German, Marko replied: "The next time I meet him, I'll tell him straight away."

Verstappen's penalty saw him take just one point away from the Barcelona race. To make matter worse, his main title rivals scored maximum points with championship leader securing his fifth victory of the season and finishing second behind his team-mate.

Verstappen is now 49 points off the lead, but with plenty of time to address that situation with 15 rounds remaining in the 2025 season. However, when he said: "We are way too slow anyway to fight for the title, that was clear again today."

Marko knows he will have to play something of a cheerleader role to lift Verstappen's spirits after a damaging weekend. He said: "I'm trying to cheer him up: We're not giving up, but something has to finally change with the car."