Marko: 'Perez must stick to Verstappen's set-up from now on'

Sergio Perez failed to pass Q2 in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished just one position ahead of him, but Dr Helmut Marko feels Perez has left too much to be desired this weekend and will be giving him a stern talking-to.

Marko sounds very dissatisfied with Red Bull Racing's second driver. Perez failed to improve his time in the second run of Q2 and move into the top ten. His teammate Verstappen ended Q2 as the fastest. Although Verstappen will start from P10 on Sunday, just one place ahead of Perez, the gap between the two is very large. Verstappen had engine problems, which prevented him from setting a competitive time.

Team advisor Marko will have to have a word with the Mexican after the disappointing result on Friday. Speaking to German Sky, the Austrian said: "He is too far away from Max at the moment. It was a tricky situation in all the practice sessions, so we have to sit down and talk about it." The Hungary GP is the last F1 event before the August summer break and ideally Red Bull will finish the first half of the season well.

Marko believes Perez's mind is already somewhere else: "The summer break hasn't started yet, but it seems as if his mind is already there. We need to talk to him and he needs to stick to the set-up of Max's car and prove himself in the first training session to stay with it." According to Marko, it is unacceptable to be so far from your teammate. To miss more than a second in the practice sessions is a gap that cannot be found in a weekend.