Marko makes striking statement after Verstappen's pole: 'McLaren bluffed quite a bit'

According to Marko, Red Bull had a strong day, but McLaren also played a role in the surprising outcome. "I think McLaren bluffed quite a bit this morning and they were running with very little fuel in the car," says the Red Bull chief advisor.

For Marko, in the end it all came down to Red Bull's improvements and to Max Verstappen's performance. "It was of course another mega lap from Max," Marko says proudly.

For the race, he hopes that the changes to the RB21 will also bear fruit. "We can only hope that these changes also have an effect over a full race distance," Marko says. "But if you start at the front and drive in clean air, life is a lot easier."

He adds that overtaking remains difficult: "Even on this circuit."