Marko: 'Verstappen never saw Perez as a serious title threat'

Helmut Marko did not think Red Bull Racing was the favourite for the Monaco Grand Prix, but for next weekend's weekend, the 80-year-old Austrian is a bit more positive again. He expects a lot from the RB19, although he remains keen on updates from the other teams.

Asked by OE24 if Marko had expected more resistance from Perez in the battle for the world championship, he replied tellingly:"That has [now so] come to an end. But in reality, Max never saw a serious threat in Checo." The difference was briefly 14 points after the Miami Grand Prix, but the gap has now grown to 39 points.

Red Bull in Barcelona

In Monaco, Red Bull predicted a difficult weekend and qualifying showed that that expectation was correct. Verstappen only narrowly beat Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc on Saturday, only to cross the finish line first a day later. In Barcelona, Red Bull should come out even stronger than on the streets of Monaco, Marko believes.

The RB19 will be fitted with some new parts, where the competition also brought or will bring the necessary updates. Spain will be a serious gauge. "In Barcelona, you can see how good a car really is. Then people say: if a car works on this track, it will work on 80 per cent of the other circuits."

Updates Mercedes

Mercedes was already driving with updates at Monaco. The German racing team found it hard to say how much time the changes saved, but at least the feeling was good. Marko cannot really assess what to expect from the updates. "Maybe they will fire a super rocket. But it would be a huge leap, if they can match our level at all. And then they have to keep up constantly [in terms of development]," he concludes.