Marko looks honestly at Perez's performance: 'Verstappen was able to do that'

After the second Grand Prix of the 2021 season, Red Bull Racing appear to be confirming that they are the main challenger to Mercedes for the championship this year, with a win in the second race of the season. They were close in Bahrain as well, although Mercedes still pulled out the stops then. This time it was Max Verstappen with the fastest car in the changing conditions.

It was different on Saturday in Imola, when Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez managed to qualify ahead of the Dutchman. The difference was minimal, but it meant Verstappen had to overtake two cars to take victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a race in which he retired from second place in 2020 due to a blowout.

Tyre temperature big problem

This year, however, he managed to quickly grab the lead and drive away from the field, something Perez failed to do. The Mexican fell back and, thanks in part to a spin, 11th place was the maximum he could achieve. "It was all looking really good after qualifying. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he drove the second best time of the day," Helmut Marko recalled on ServusTV.

"Then we all thought it was going to run perfectly on Sunday. I think he didn't manage to get the tyres up to temperature straight away, as Max did. So the eleventh place is more than annoying of course," Marko acknowledged. In Portimao there are new opportunities for Perez to prove himself in the RB16B of Red Bull.