Until recently, Max Verstappen seemed like the undisputed favorite of Red Bull Racing, but Sergio Perez won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix and the reigning world champion finished only third.
Helmut Marko, a motorsport adviser for Red Bull, believes the Mexican was extra motivated by the contract that was extended the day before, as the Austrian said in an interview with Österreich Zeitung.
Q: Did you stock up on champagne to celebrate the World Cup victory?
Helmut Marko: Nonsense, I just found out there are still 15 races to go. Things could change as even George Russell is only 41 points behind Max Verstappen.
Q: Do you think the Mercedes drivers can still intervene in the battle for the title?
Helmut Marko: Yes, I think so. Their car is getting faster every day and judging by the results of the best laps they have already risen to our level or even surpassed them. Therefore, they cannot be discounted. Should Mercedes suddenly dominate again on all circuits, Hamilton will also be able to earn itself back.
Q: But he’s regularly inferior to Russell, isn’t he?
Helmut Marko: This is due to the fact that Lewis had to overcome many different difficulties, including so many times that he had bad luck. It was the same in Red Bull Racing in 2014: Sebastian Vettel had problems then, but for Daniel Ricciardo everything went well.
Q: But now Daniel has to worry about his future: It seems that Zach Brown, the head of McLaren Racing, already wants to say goodbye to him…
Helmut Marko: Yes, now that Daniel has lost a lot, it is very sad to see that.
Q: But you have Sergio Perez, who is already capable of winning races and continuing the work started by Verstappen…
Helmut Marko: By the way, we extended the contract with Sergio before the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday and that has certainly given him extra motivation. When we have a duo of riders like that, it’s really great, because this year we’ve already had five wins.
Q: Perez is already starting to push Verstappen – could this become a problem?
Helmut Marko: Max remains calm, he has a lot of confidence in himself and his abilities.
Q: Why is Ferrari suddenly at fault again?
Helmut Marko: It’s just a matter of pressure. Leclair finds it hard to deal with and he makes mistakes. This is racing. In Monaco we forced Ferrari to react to our tactics, they instinctively caved and acted wrong.
Source: F1 News
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