Marko on Perez 'sleeping': "Maybe drank tequila yesterday"

After Charles Leclerc's retirement, Red Bull Racing looked to have by far the best chance of a double podium finish, but in the end, it was two Mercedes cars that took the podium. Helmut Marko is a little upset that Sergio Perez gave away his third place in the closing stages of the race.

Guanyu Zhou's stoppage created a virtual safety car situation in the final laps of Sunday afternoon's race at the Paul Ricard circuit. When the lights went back to green, Perez was apparently asleep. George Russell timed things much better and passed the current world championship number three with ease.

Marko is not too happy about it. "Checo was sleeping at the restart," he is strict with his driver. "Maybe he drank tequila yesterday." As a result, Perez scored not fifteen, but 12 points. Despite this, it was a very good day for Red Bull Racing in the battle for the constructors' title, as they once again ran well ahead of their Italian rival.

Verstappen unable to overtake Leclerc

Max Verstappen had the pressure on with title rival Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the race. For laps the reigning world champion was within DRS distance, but he failed to pass. "The tyres held up better than expected, but overtaking was much more difficult than expected," Marko told various German-language media.