Marco: I will explain to Perez that there was no other choice

The Red Bull Racing team won a double in Barcelona, ​​but during the race Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez had grievances, albeit different, and he understood that only too well, according to Helmut Marko.

Verstappen was of course lucky that the power plant failed in Charles Leclerc’s car, who was in the lead from the start until lap 26. Without this, the reigning world champion could hardly have claimed victory, as firstly, the Red Bull car on the Catalan ring was somewhat inferior to Ferrari in terms of speed and, secondly, there were problems with the DRS system on Max’s RB18, and his annoyed on this occasion, he collapsed on the team by radio.

“We told Max to calm down,” said a Red Bull motorsport adviser. – He was advised to press the DRS button only once, and only if the car is not going over the curb. He got angry, pressed the button several times, so that the wing opened and closed again. But in such a situation, his emotional state is quite understandable.

As for Perez, the Mexican had no problems with the car and believed he could outperform his partner, but it was more profitable for the team to secure Verstappen’s victory, which was ultimately done through tactical maneuvers.

Sergio was clearly unhappy, but here’s what Marco said about it: “He used a different tactic and it was clear he wouldn’t finish on the second set of Medium tyres. That’s why we had no doubts that Max would cover the distance of the race faster.

If Sergio turns to me, I will explain to him in detail that there was simply no other option. Although of course he was upset during the race and got excited because of this. It is absolutely clear that he will never directly say, “I am ready to miss a partner.” Then he wouldn’t be a racer.”

Team boss Christian Horner even spoke to Perez after the finish, then shared with reporters: “I spoke to him as he got out of the car. The problem is that during the Grand Prix distance the driver does not fully understand how the situation is developing on track and does not know everything about the team’s strategy.

When he has to give up the lead it is always a cause for discontent, but Sergio did well in his role in the team game.

I think he realized he and Max had an unequal opportunity because the difference in speed between the two tactics was so obvious.

Given the high air temperature, track coverage, coolant and engine oil temperatures and the unstable DRS system on Max’s car there was no point in letting them fight on the track as it would be an unfair situation.

But it turned out that at the end of the distance we had to call Sergio back to the pits for fresh tires. The drivers acted as one team and earned the maximum number of points, which was very important for us on a day when Ferrari unfortunately had problems.