Marko unhappy with Perez performance: 'Lucky he finished the race'
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In front of a home crowd, Max Verstappen pulled off the win at the soaking-wet Circuit Zandvoort. It cannot be called a surprise, yet the Dutchman still impressed Helmut Marko.
Verstappen impresses Marko
The fact that Verstappen is an extremely strong and complete driver may be obvious. But does he have any weaknesses? "I don't know any. He is so superb. Doesn't matter dry or wet. He can read the race. He is nursing the tyres, and he is so calm," Marko said in a conversation with Viaplay.
He continued: "The ceremony before the start was really impressive. And there was so much emotion, but for him, that means a lot of pressure. He said hello to The King, jumped in the car, and just did it. He is already with the absolute top drivers of all decades."
Sergio Perez didn't have as strong a race. He started from P7 and gained the lead through an early pit stop in the rain but eventually dropped from P2 to P4 due to a series of mistakes of his own. "He was lucky with his pitstop that gave him the lead. And then, when he came into the pits, he crashed quite heavily into the wall. And also got a 5-second penalty," Marko summed up. "On the extreme wet tyres he was too late on the brakes, and there he was lucky because the car was damaged, the front wing, and without the red flag, he wouldn't have finished the race."