Marko praises his second driver: 'We couldn't have done it without Perez'

Sergio Perez managed to secure a podium finish for Red Bull Racing in the closing laps of the French Grand Prix on Sunday. A good result for his team, although Perez himself regrets his first stint.

On Saturday, Perez came up a little short of his teammate in qualifying. Max Verstappen took pole, and the gap between the two Red Bull drivers was so big that even two Mercedes drivers could come between them. In the race Perez had to leave a gap at first, but Red Bull quickly opted for an alternative strategy.

''We quickly chose this direction with Perez by leaving him out longer. We couldn't have done that without Perez, who was very open about this,'' Helmut Marko told ServusTV. The Austrian saw his new driver execute the strategy to perfection, eventually still beating Valtteri Bottas for third place.

''The track conditions were completely different to what we expected, especially at the beginning of the race with so little grip. In addition, we were driving with less downforce than Mercedes, which made the first stint difficult. If you take away those first laps, it would have looked even better for me'', the Mexican concluded.