Marko is devastated: "Max was already faster"

Helmut Marko is disappointed that third place was the maximum Max Verstappen could achieve in Azerbaijan during qualifying. The top man at Red Bull says that without a red flag there would have been much more to come from the current world championship leader.

"We were more cautious on the first set and then attacked on the second set," Marko said of Red Bull's tactics in conversation with Austrian television station ORF. The advisor to the Milton Keynes-based racing outfit believes much more could have been possible for Verstappen than just a third place.

"Max was already faster, we have internal projections, but then Yuki and Sainz crashed then it was over again. Here you can forget tactics in qualifiying, you have to go out in front and get a lap there as fast as possible." 

How fast is Mercedes?

At Mercedes they are confident that Hamilton can fight for victory, but at Red Bull they doubt the true speed of the W12. "The move was big, but we mustn't forget, Bottas helped him slipstream-wise. That's at least five tenths. If you subtract those ... I don't think they're at the front in race trim, but the field is shuffled again. We can expect an exciting race tomorrow," Marko concluded.