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Marko analyses sprint victory for Verstappen: 'That made the difference'
- Ludo van Denderen
For a moment, Lando Norris thought he had made a successful overtaking attempt on Max Verstappen during the Austrian sprint race, but it was the Dutchman who countered immediately. It turned out to be the decisive move for victory in the short race in front of orange-coloured grandstands, although Helmut Marko saw another aspect with which Verstappen created himself an advantage.
"The difference was that Max managed to stay in the lead, without taking his tyres over the cliff in the process," Helmut Marko told the exclusive immediately after the race to GPblog. "So in the end, the difference was the top speed, without damaging the tyres. As you saw Lando Norris got into trouble [with his tyres], that didn't help him."
Marko praises McLaren
On used tyres - unlike both McLarens - Verstappen, after Norris' earlier attempt, managed to build up a lead of over four seconds. That was over Oscar Piastri, who also overtook his teammate after the battle. "McLaren was very fair. They didn't swap positions, so we were two points off," laughed Marko.
Unlike Red Bull Racing's two drivers, the two McLarens did fight with each other. "They were fighting each other. That was our advantage," was therefore Marko's conclusion, before heading to Red Bull's Energy Station under the warm Austrian sun.