Helmut Marko has admitted his big concern with Max Verstappen that McLaren and Mercedes sparked by threatening Red Bull to win the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya played host to another win for Verstappen last weekend. But Lando Norris secured pole position for the Spanish GP, and only finished the 66-lap race 2.219 seconds behind his Red Bull rival. The McLaren star felt his start also cost him the win.
Norris reacted well to the lights but suffered wheelspin as he pulled away to see Verstappen shoot down the 24-year-old’s inside. George Russell also rocketed from fourth place into the lead with a double-slipstream down into Turn 1. But Verstappen took over the lead on Lap 3.
Helmut Marko fears Max Verstappen ‘can’t drive at the limit’ for the full season
Verstappen impressed Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko with his pass on Russell to get the lead of the Spanish GP. The 26-year-old wasted no time to seize P1 from the Mercedes racer with a sweeping move around the outside at T1 that gave the inside line for T2 and the spot.
Norris losing too much time then trying to pass Russell for P2 during their first stints also put another hurdle in the Briton’s path. Had the McLaren driver passed his compatriot sooner in the race, then he may have given Verstappen a closer run for his money than their 2.2s gap.
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But while Verstappen got his elbows out and did what Red Bull needed to win in Montmelo, Marko fears he cannot consistently perform at that level. With McLaren and Mercedes now real threats at the front, along with Ferrari, Marko doubts Verstappen can keep it up all year.
“Exactly,” Marko told OE24 about Verstappen making the difference in Red Bull winning. “But Max can’t drive at the limit like that for an entire season. The overtaking manoeuvre that put him in the lead was extraordinary, even for him.”
Max Verstappen was the difference for Red Bull in another poor race for Sergio Perez
Verstappen was certainly the difference-maker for Red Bull at the Spanish GP as Norris with McLaren and Russell with Mercedes threatened at times. Lewis Hamilton also sealed P3 on the grid for the Silver Arrows, before finishing the race on the podium for his first this term.
Red Bull were fighting with one arm behind their back all weekend in Barcelona with Sergio Perez enduring another nightmare. The 34-year-old ended the race in P8 and 59.524s from Verstappen, having qualified in P8 before starting in P11 due to his three-place grid penalty.
Perez failed to put a clean lap together in Q3 during his first run, before sacrificing his result to gift Verstappen a slipstream. Starting down the order ensured the Mexican was then out of contention for even a podium with Oscar Piastri 25.764s ahead to secure P7 for McLaren.
The Spanish GP also marked another poor race for Perez after he crashed out of the Monaco GP and the Canadian GP. He is also now without a podium in five Grand Prix after getting on the rostrum at four of the first five. Perez’s best result in the last five races was P4 in Miami.
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