Marko enjoys 'smart' Hamilton: 'Bottas drove on the dirty part'

Helmut Marko was relieved to see Max Verstappen take victory on Sunday. Red Bull Racing's strategy had worked, but Marko has high praise for Lewis Hamilton, who made things very difficult for Red Bull.

Verstappen managed to pass Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap of the French Grand Prix. The Dutchman had given up the lead in the race first when he ran wide after turn 1 and then with his second pit stop, and had to catch up. He just managed to do so, but it was made very difficult by a strong performance from Lewis.

Compliments for Hamilton and Verstappen

''He is very clever,'' Marko told ServusTV. ''You saw it with Bottas. He went on the dirty part of the track and his tyres completely gave up. Hamilton couldn't risk ruining his tyres. Perez was close, so Lewis would have lost place two as well,'' Marko looks at the difference between Bottas and Hamilton.

On the other hand, Marko was also proud of his own pupil. ''This is a strength of Max. The in-laps and out-laps. He's incredibly on the limit, gaining a lot of time. When we were in front of the Mercedes drivers we just noticed that we wouldn't make it until the last lap, so we decided to do what Mercedes did in Barcelona'', Marko concluded.