Marko laughs at Verstappen's missteps: 'Back then it was his style'

Red Bull Racing are still searching, but Helmut Marko is a lot more positive about the Austrian Formula 1 team's form at Monza than a week earlier at Zandvoort. Speaking to GPblog and others, the top advisor looks back at Friday's free practice sessions and also looks ahead to the rest of the Grand Prix weekend.

Max Verstappen had two moments in Parabolica during the second free practice session, having also had a few moments in FP1 where he shot straight on the new asphalt. Such moments are rare for the Dutchman, but the RB20's balance is not what it has been. "Two years ago, I would say it was usual style of him," laughed Marko.

Verstappen and Sergio Perez are driving the same specification car this F1 weekend, but the drivers are trying out different things. "Only [the] set-up [different]," says Marko. In addition, Perez was driving an older specification in the first practice session. After that session, Red Bull decided to change his gearbox with an old one. "We had to change the gearbox. Nothing, [no penalty]," the 81-year-old Austrian clarified.

As for Saturday and Sunday, it is still a big question mark as to which team has the best cards. "I think it's four brands in the mix," Marko stated. That could be advantageous for Red Bull, as Mercedes and Ferrari could potentially take points away from McLaren. On one condition, though: "As long as we are ahead, yes," Marko said.

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