Marko knows what Red Bull needs to get right: 'That's a big challenge'

Helmut Marko is happy with what he saw from Red Bull Racing in the first free practice session. The Austrian racing stable's consultant thinks it is especially important to get the tyre management in order ahead of Sunday's race.

High tyre degradation in Barcelona

"To keep these tyres alive is a big challenge. Especially with the softs," Marko is quoted by the German branch of Sky Sports. "I just heard Max's analysis. It's not easy, in every corner a different tyre is under stress. The load is clearly highest on the left front tyre, but the rear tyres are also taking quite a beating."

That the tyre degradation is high does not seem to be to Red Bull's disadvantage this weekend. The RB19 is good on tyres, better than all other teams. Aston Martin and Mercedes have generally got the wear right too, but Ferrari in particular could face a difficult weekend if we hear Marko talking about the rubber like this.

But to what extent can a driver himself make a difference and stretch the length of the stint? "Pay attention to the load, so how fast you go into the corner. You have to be careful when accelerating and find an overall balance so that both the speed and the overall load on the tyres is good." Marko says it is therefore important to find a good compromise.

Red Bull optimistic

About Verstappen's pace, they are very pleased at the pit wall at Red Bull. "I must say that Max made another incredible step forward and I am very positive about the race also from that point of view," said Marko, who is not too worried about comments from his Dutch driver about bouncing a lot. "He didn't complain. He just said what the car was doing. There was a little bit of bouncing in one situation."