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Marko in seventh heaven: "Crazy what Verstappen has achieved in five years".

5 September 2021 at 16:30
  • GPblog.com

Helmut Marko is ecstatic after Max Verstappen's 17th victory in Formula 1. On the Zandvoort circuit, Red Bull Racing was able to counter Lewis Hamilton every time, so Max Verstappen has recaptured the lead in the world championship. Pierre Gasly also picks up the praise from the Red Bull advisor. 

"We always reacted to Hamilton, whatever Mercedes did, Max reacted correctly and optimally in every situation without overloading the tyres," Marko praised his Dutch driver. Hamilton may have come closer at times, but there was no real attack. "Every time he approached, Max increased the pace again. He was incredible."

Fastest lap to Hamilton

Prior to the race, Hamilton seemed to have an advantage in that he had an extra set of mediums left. Verstappen did have to go to the hard tyres, but it all worked out in the end. "We saw that Hamilton's tyres were giving way - we had no way of countering his fastest lap, or only with a lot of risk."

Verstappen has actually won four 'home races' now. In Austria (at the Red Bull Ring), at Silverstone (near factory Milton Keynes), at Spa Francorchamps (his home country) and now at Zandvoort. "It's crazy what Max has achieved in five years. Now he has won our fourth home race."

Praise for Gasly, Marko strict on Perez

At ServusTV, Marko also handed out compliments to Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman finished just outside the podium in the AlphaTauri."Incredible. He defended his fourth place against the Ferrari's. In terms of speed, he was by far the fastest except for the first three. That's a solid sign towards Red Bull," said the Austrian advisor, who had expected more from Perez. "Sergio also finished in the points, thank goodness. But could have been better without the brake incident."