Marko not panicking: 'Verstappen was not driving at full power'

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Verstappen did not drive at full power in Spain
21 June at 18:56
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  • Tim Kraaij

Helmut Marko is not worried about Max Verstappen's fifth place in the second free practice session. According to the Austrian, Verstappen was not yet driving at full power and the longer runs did look good.

Verstappen ended the second free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in fifth place. The Dutchman was more than two-tenths short of Lewis Hamilton's fastest time and also had to beat Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. Nevertheless, Marko was of little concern afterwards.

What was Verstappen's problem in Spain?

"We did not use the full power, so it is not that alarming yet. The long runs looked good," Marko is quoted as saying by Motorsport-total.com. Verstappen also struggled with the balance of the car. Thus, Verstappen also asked for a new wing during the session. However, according to Marko, this was not heeded.

"I think another rear wing would have been the solution, but that takes you 20 minutes to change it. We didn't do that. Max wanted a different front and rear wing, but you also have to think about Sunday." According to Marko, the grip will be different on Sunday, so the lack of balance is not a reason to make many adjustments now. However, Red Bull does need to look for a better set-up.

Verstappen earlier spoke words to the same effect. Verstappen himself was not upset either after the inferior result in the second free practice session. In fact, the Dutchman was happy to have finally had a Friday without any major problems.

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy