Marko after P11 for Verstappen: 'Only time of Leclerc alarming'
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- Corwin Kunst
Two Red Bulls finishing outside the top ten. We don't see that often, but in the first free practice session in Monaco, it was a fact. Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez may not have come into action on the softs, but the RB20 is not yet doing what drivers are demanding. Helmut Marko knows there is work to be done.
The Austrian - who recently turned 81 - draws comparisons with Leclerc, who also set his fastest time on mediums. The Ferrari driver was also driving on as much fuel as Verstappen and Perez, Marko knows. "He picked up a lot of time on us in the first sector," he said, speaking to ORF. Red Bull is now analysing that to find more balance in the first part of the track later today during the second free practice.
Marko confident
The Red Bull Racing advisor calls the car "too unsettled at the moment". Yet he does not want to make it bigger than it is. "It looks worse than it is. The car is bouncing a bit too much and we are struggling with a lack of front axle grip in certain corners."
The Mercedes and McLarens held the first four positions in FP1, but Marko says that says nothing at all about how the proportions are this weekend. "For us, only Leclerc's time is alarming. The others [in front] were driving on the soft tyres," he said. Closing on a positive note: "It's reassuring that we only lose it like that in one corner."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy