Marko expects a lot from 'wily fox' Alonso: "Is always there"

Max Verstappen was the fastest man in the field in the third free practice, but at the other end of the garage, things went a lot less smoothly. Sergio Perez braked several times and ended up in the gravel more than once. Helmut Marko talks about it and informs ServusTV that he is taking Fernando Alonso into account for the rest of the weekend.

"We had a good session with Max. The longruns were also satisfying," Marko told the Austrian television station. And with Perez? "Everything went wrong there. There was a technical problem on the front of the car, which they only managed to fix towards the end of the session. And when the car was fine, it started raining."

The 79-year-old Austrian expects a very exciting qualifying session, perhaps more exciting than in Bahrain and Jeddah. "I think it will be closer here. Ferrari seems to be very fast on the single lap and Alonso is always there."

For Sunday's Grand Prix, most of the competition seems to come from the Spanish two-time world champion. Aston Martin is generally strong in the race and at Albert Park Circuit that seems to be the case again based on the longruns. "He is a wily fox who knows how to handle the tyres. I suspect in the race Alonso will be our strongest opponent."