Marko not worried after Portugal defeat: 'A Mercedes circuit'

Mercedes have won the battle in Portugal, but Helmut Marko is not giving up yet. According to the Austrian, this was still a 'Mercedes circuit' and it was good that Red Bull could still keep up.

Marko is not worried

The battle between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes has really begun this year. Lewis Hamilton won the first and third race, while Max Verstappen won the second. In Portugal, for the first time ever, Mercedes seemed to be the strongest team, but that doesn't scare Marko. Indeed, they had already expected that at Red Bull.

''This was a Mercedes circuit, but we still competed well. It wasn't good enough to win last weekend, but the development is going in the right direction. We were better on mediums, but Max made a mistake in turn 14. Then Bottas held us up and Mercedes was stronger on the hardest tyre. I hope we can fight back in Barcelona'', Marko told Sky Germany.

Battle with Mercedes

The Austrian let himself be compared to the Mercedes camp after qualifying. According to Marko McLaren, as a customer of Mercedes, had not done the right thing by telling Lando Norris on the radio that he could not give Verstappen a present. This to the dismay of Toto Wolff and Andreas Seidl.

Wolff let it be known that Marko was now working as the biggest motivator for the Mercedes team, but Marko himself could care less about that role. ''My God, no. It's just an exciting duel and psychology is part of it. And if Toto sees it this way, well, he should do it nicely that way'', Marko concludes.