Marko reveals Perez problem: 'Nothing to do with reliability'

Marko confirms Perez problems

The entire grid is a Red Bull sandwich on Sunday. Max Verstappen starts at the front, and Perez is at the back. The two are top of the championship and it looks like Verstappen is going to create a big gap in Australia compared to his teammate.

Perez could be heard over the team radio complaining about the technical problems he also had in fp3. Marko confirmed Perez's statements. The cause of Perez's failure was indeed a technical problem with the engine. Speaking to Sky, he nevertheless says Perez also had it in his own hands: "Sergio already had problems with the engine settings in FP3. I think that made him uncertain and that's why he slipped."

Marko does not expect him to come through the field like Max

Marko clarified: "Maybe it was not an optimal set-up, but he was unsure, impetuous. On the first lap it was even smoother, colder tyres, and that then worked together to make him slip out unfortunately." According to the Austrian, the technical problems can be traced to the 'engine mapping': "We had no reliability problems this weekend. It was the fine-tuning of the engine mapping. That in itself has nothing to do with reliability."

For tomorrow, Marko does not rate the Mexican's chances very high. It won't be the same as Verstappen's overtaking race in Saudi Arabia: "At this circuit, it's very difficult to overtake. So if we can still get into the points this race, we should already be happy."