Marko sees problems for Mercedes: 'Perez has a crucial advantage'

In his second qualifying session for Red Bull Racing and his first Q3 for the team, Sergio Perez secured P2 for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit. The gaps between the top three drivers were extremely small, but Perez still managed to qualify himself between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

For Helmut Marko, this result is confirmation of the difficult choice they faced last year, with Alexander Albon not performing as he should. "The development with Perez is really incredible. We are very happy that he is already so strong in his second qualifying session for the team," Marko acknowledged to Sky Germany.

Red Bull's Austrian advisor expects Perez to be of greatest value tomorrow too, with a different strategy to Hamilton and Verstappen. "Perez also starts on the softest tyre, while Max and Lewis start on the mediums. That could be a crucial advantage with this long straight". Until then, it will be mainly predictable whether Perez can play a role between the exciting fight between Verstappen and Hamilton.

What is clear is that Mercedes will miss Bottas. On a circuit where overtaking is difficult, Bottas has to find a way forward from eighth place. "We have two cars upfront and there are some cars between us and Bottas. I hope he doesn't get there soon, that should be an advantage for us then," Marko concluded.