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Marko: 'Jeddah is called Mercedes country, so we will win there'
- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko reiterates his regret that the stewards denied Max Verstappen a fair chance at victory in the Qatar Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing advisor also reckons that one win for the 24-year-old Dutchman will be enough to secure his first world championship.
"The fault was on our side. We were four tenths ahead in the first practice session. Then we lost our way. Hamilton, on the other hand, improved gradually, tuning his car the way he needed to. With us it was the opposite. We were never able to repeat the perfect start. In third practice we suddenly lost three tenths at the first corner," said Marko, suggesting the RB16B's set-up was never great in Qatar.
Verstappen eventually drove to second place. More than that was not possible at the Losail International Circuit. Still, the 78-year-old Austrian would have liked to see Verstappen at least get a chance in the duel with Hamilton. Due to the five-place grid penalty, he was denied that. "Maybe then we would have cracked him via the undercut. In this way we were denied tactical opportunities."
Red Bull in Saudi Arabia
According to Marko not much has changed for Red Bull. Verstappen will still need to grab a win, although he now has one less attempt for it."We still need to win one of the two races. Everyone says Jeddah will be Mercedes country. So we will win there," Marko hinted at Auto, Motor und Sport With a nod to the noises that were also heard in Austin. There Verstappen managed to win then.