Marko praises Perez: 'In Sector 3 he was faster than Max on average'

"The race speed is at Verstappen's level. If he had free air, he set the same times," Marko revealed in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. Perez is known as someone who is very good at tyre management and excels in the races.

Alexander Albon was consistently losing a second a lap to Verstappen in 2020, so the choice of Perez seems to have been a good one. We saw glimpses of that strength on Sunday at the Bahrain International Circuit when he raced from P20 to fifth.

Perez strong in third sector

Perez's qualifying may be of a slightly lower standard, but what Marko saw from the 31-year-old driver last Saturday at least gives perspective for the rest of 2021. "He lost most of his time in one corner, Turn 1. In Sector 3 he was faster than Max on average. The only thing is: you have to get the lap together. We are confident that he will get much closer to Max in qualifying as well."