Where the Mercedes is again proving its dominance at Italian Monza this weekend, Dr Helmut Marko sees plenty of opportunities for Max Verstappen to challenge the defending champion. Mercedes may have a higher top speed, the Austrian believes, but Verstappen has the ultimate set-up to mount a challenge.
"After FP1 we had a gloomy look", Marko begins in conversation with Motorsport Magazine. Indeed, the weekend didn't look too good here for the Milton Keynes-based team, given that the gap to Lewis Hamilton was then a full second.
Betting on downforce
"But then we went to a downforce level with which Max could attack", the Red Bull chief continued. According to Marko, this setup will put Verstappen in a good position to take the fight to the Mercedes cars, both in the race and during the sprint.
"What we lost at top speed - I can't say exactly how much km / h it was - we regained in the corners", concludes the Austrian.