Despite seeing Max Verstappen have another accident ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has backed the Dutchman to get over his recent run of erratic form.
In opening practice for this weekend's street race in Baku, Verstappen, who is under pressure after mistakes at all three races this year, lost control of his car on the approach to Turn 5 before slamming sideways into the barriers. Red Bull was able to repair the car in time for second practice, although it cost the Dutchman around an hour of the opening session.
Verstappen had no explanation for what happened, saying: "Bit slippery at the start, but yeah, it was a shame. I don't know.
"I couldn't catch the car and I hit the wall, but luckily it didn't affect us too much in second practice what happened. The mechanics did a really good job repairing the car, and the car's fast. I'm happy with that."
Marko is the head of Red Bull's driver programme and instigated the signing of Verstappen in late 2014, overseeing his promotion from Toro Rosso to the senior team ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, where the Dutchman claimed a stunning maiden career victory. The Austrian has carved out a reputation for being unforgiving when it comes to driver mistakes but he is confident Verstappen's current spell is just a blip.
When asked if Verstappen needed to radically change his aggressive style, Marko told Sky Sports: "No, but of course you have to bring the car in the finish without any incident. That's important and we are coming to circuits like Monte Carlo, so...
"I think he is strong in the head, we know he is, it's just a series of bad luck I would say."
Despite his reputation for having limited patience for mistakes from his proteges, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says Marko appears to have taken a different approach to try to get Verstappen back on form.
"Helmut, who is notoriously firm and takes a headmaster role, has actually put an arm round his shoulders and just said 'put it behind you, focus on the next one, learn from your mistakes'," Horner said. "It was a remarkably subdued Helmut that we saw following the China race with Max.
"Usually Helmut goes in with the upper-cut and I'm ended up with the arm around the shoulder! He perplexed me on this one because he went for the arm around the shoulder. But that's what makes a team, those different dynamics and the way that you interact together."