Max Verstappen wrapped up the opening day at Yas Marina just behind championship leader Lando Norris, but he still ended up nearly four tenths adrift over a single lap and showed an average race pace about three tenths slower in the long-run simulations.

Speaking to Sky Germany at the end of the day, Marko stressed that "Max couldn't keep up with Norris' pace. He complained about understeer, and that's something he doesn't like at all."

The Austrian, however, didn’t seem particularly concerned about their eventual starting position, noting that overtaking around Abu Dhabi is far easier than it was in Qatar.

The Dutchman was still almost four tenths off over a single lap, underlining once again just how much Norris comes alive around Yas Marina — and how quickly he’s able to tap into the performance there.

He said he felt “pretty okay” with how the RB21 was behaving, but admitted it’s still not “quick enough” to genuinely challenge McLaren on equal footing, adding that there’s still work to do.