Marko saw pitfall in qualifying: 'We didn't want to risk that'

Helmut Marko believes Red Bull Racing could not have used the same tactics as Ferrari during qualifying in France. For the Austrian, second and third places for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez respectively are therefore the highest achievable, he told Sky Sports Deutschland.

Ferrari knew prior to qualifying that Carlos Sainz would receive a grid penalty for replacing several engine parts, forcing the Spaniard to start the race from the back of the grid. It, therefore, decided to send Sainz ahead to give Leclerc more speed.

For Red Bull, however, such tactics were not an option. According to Marko, his team not only had to take Ferrari into account, but Mercedes could also threaten them. Therefore, Red Bull had to settle for the current starting positions.

"The Mercedes was too close, so we didn't want to risk that," Marko says. "And we certainly didn't have the optimum balance and Ferrari just did it better. Therefore, it wouldn't have been worth sacrificing Perez. Because Leclerc was probably just too fast."