Marko couldn't see a Verstappen win: 'Were sometimes two seconds slower'

Helmut Marko does not think Max Verstappen could have taken his third win in a row in Australia. Sergio Pérez in his RB20 was sometimes up to two seconds slower than the drivers in front, according to the Red Bull Racing advisor, a sign that even (and even) Verstappen would have fallen short.

It was Carlos Sainz who - like last year in Singapore - ended a great run of consecutive Red Bull victories. Ferrari set an impressive pace, while the McLarens were also faster than Red Bull in Melbourne.

RB20 comes up short

"We were sometimes two seconds slower than the leaders. We need to look at that again, maybe the tyre pressure was too high for the conditions or the set-up was wrong," a puzzled Marko told Motorsport-Magazin.com. The Austrian racing stable will take a detailed look at where it went wrong. "Because two seconds is not a Checo slower either."

From this, Marko believes that Verstappen might have been faster than his Mexican teammate, but certainly not two seconds faster. As a result, in the 80-year-old Austrian's view, first place was not a viable option. All in all, Marko summed up, "Overall it was a difficult weekend. That we still grabbed pole position was very surprising."