Marko baffled after poor qualifying for Verstappen: 'Left with mystery'

Helmut Marko can't understand Red Bull Racing's poor qualifying in Monza. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished seventh and eighth, making the Austrian racing team the fourth fastest Formula 1 team on the grid at the Italian Grand Prix.

Where did things go wrong for Verstappen? The Dutchman, who normally still manages to secure a place at the front, had his weakest qualifying of the year, finishing only seventh. "Not understanding," said Marko's conclusion at the German branch of Sky Sports. "In Q2, I think we were within a few hundredths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton and in qualifying three, suddenly nothing worked."

"The changes were marginal. In theory, they could not have made that difference," the Austrian said. "So we are left with a mystery." Moreover, Marko cannot explain why Perez was faster on used tyres in the first run. "So something is not right. Normally a used set is three or four tenths slower."

Despite the poor starting position, Marko still believes in victory: "Absolutely," he stresses. "We have to analyse because the performance in Q2 was there. Those were good. Thank God this is Monza, where you can overtake well. I don't think anyone can get away, not even the two McLarens. Unless they slipstream great and don't fight each other. So not all is lost," said Marko, who did add a clear note: "If we perform as badly in the race, it doesn't look good."