Marko has crystal clear message for rivals after Verstappen's sprint pole

Helmut Marko has stressed Red Bull Racing "is back" after Max Verstappen managed to secure pole for the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix weekend. The Dutchman, who hasn't won a race in F1 since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, has a good chance of beating the competition in Austin after Red Bull introduced some upgrades.

Sergio Perez was knocked out in SQ2 while his teammate Verstappen made the most out of his updated RB20. For awhile, it looked like Mercedes' Russell was going to take pole, but Verstappen pipped him in the closing stages. Despite Perez being a second behind Verstappen, Marko has stressed the updates have worked immediately. All teams only had 60 minutes of practice this weekend due to the sprint format.

"I would say Red Bull is back. Yes, Red Bull is back," Marko said to PlanetF1.com. This result comes amid controversy surrounding the Red Bull team. Red Bull stress they have done nothing wrong and haven't been able to change the ride height during Parc Ferme, but McLaren's CEO Zak Brown is still uncertain.

Red Bull has struggled with balance problems recently, but Verstappen seemed to be more at one with the car on Friday. The three-time World Champion was pleased to be back in the P1 position after a meaningful F1 session, but is aware the majority of points are handed out on Sunday.

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