Marko agrees: "Perez is still struggling a bit"

Helmut Marko knows there is still room for improvement from Sergio Perez. The 31-year old teammate of Max Verstappen is still struggling a bit with the RB16B. Especially when it started raining at the end of FP2 Perez had to find his way.

"Perez is still struggling a bit, especially when it got wet as well," reports Marko at Motorsport-Magazin. The Mexican, who replaced Alexander Albon, failed to get beyond an eleventh time in the second free practice session and had to concede almost eight tenths to Verstappen's fastest lap Friday afternoon.

Colder temperatures

The Red Bull Racing advisor stated earlier on Austrian television that Mercedes has been catching up. Whether Verstappen will be able to take pole position again, Marko is not sure."I think it will be very close. We'll have to see how the temperatures are tomorrow."

Conditions in Spielberg were a few degrees cooler than last week. On Friday, the tire temperature was 29 degrees, a drop of about 20 degrees from last week.