'Losing' Marko has good news for mechanics: 'Fun night for them'

Five hundred euros is the amount Helmut Marko owes Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing's team boss. This is because the 80-year-old consultant lost a bet during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Subject of the bet? Max Verstappen's starting position.

Indeed, Verstappen and Red Bull had a tricky run-up to the final qualifying session of the season: in VT1 Jake Dennis was in his car, the second session lasted only briefly due to red flags, and in FP3 Verstappen could not find the right set-up. Between the third practice and qualifying, the necessary adjustments were made to the RB19. It's always a gamble whether these turn out well.

So a gamble Marko did too. "It's about 500 euros. Christian was talking about the front row, I was thinking about the second. That money is going to be spent on the bar, where the mechanics stay. Those are going to have a great evening tomorrow!", Marko told Sky Sports' German variant.

Red Bull Racing has more often managed to improve itself from seemingly lost positions. Abu Dhabi was no exception. But what exactly was changed to Verstappen's car? "It was a combination of aerodynamics, mechanical grip and also the temperature that helped us a lot. The track temperature was about 10 degrees lower and that allowed it all to fall together."