Marko: Red Bull can't cure Verstappen's woes for Brazil Sprint

The Red Bull external advisor, who spoke to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying at the Interlagos circuit, explained where Verstappen lost time to Sprint pole-sitter Lando Norris, before admitting the team has little room to fix the driver’s issues due to parc ferme restrictions.

He said, “If you look at sectors one and three, we are hundreds away from Norris, but in the middle sector, which has the most corners, there’s basically no grip. That means we don’t have enough downforce.”

“That’s something we can’t cure for the Sprint, but hopefully, with the data we get, we can adapt and make it more competitive for the main race,” he concluded.

During the Sprint qualifying session, Verstappen could only manage a sixth-place finish. The four-time world champion was over three-tenths slower compared to the 1:09.243 set by Norris.

Marko also weighed in on a possible rain-affected race that could influence the result. The 82-year-old, however, stated that although Verstappen could make the difference in such conditions, he doesn’t expect him to have a significant advantage over the McLarens.

“I think it’s quite clear that we are lacking something, and I’m not expecting that suddenly to be miles better in the wet. For us, it’s just quite poor,” Marko concluded.

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