Marko: 'We knew Verstappen would try, new tyres or not'

Red Bull Racing's home race was a great success. Max Verstappen dominated the Formula 1 race, while Sergio Perez joined his teammate on the podium after a catch-up race from 15th place. Plenty of reason for satisfaction at Red Bull and top advisor Helmut Marko.

"This was the perfect weekend: two pole positions for the sprint race and the main race, a 1-2 in the sprint and a first and third place in the main race. Perez came back from P15 to P3. To keep Max calm, he could still set the fastest lap so he can sleep well later," Marko laughed at the German branch of Sky Sports.

As usual, Marko is full of praise for Verstappen's performance, but equally proud of Perez's performance. "It was a great performance. He fought duels and drove in a controlled way. I think he is confident again now. The lead over Fernando Alonso for second place has also increased. So we go into the next races with confidence," added the 80-year-old Austrian.

Red Bull still tried to dissuade Verstappen from going for the fastest lap, but the Dutchman managed to convince his team that the risk was not too great. "When he said the tyres were no longer good, we knew he was going to try, even if we didn't give him new tyres. The risk of changing to softs was smaller. He was so far ahead that it was not really a risk," Marko said.