Helmut Marko casts Max Verstappen prediction after Red Bull ‘demonstration of power’
Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko believes “only something extraordinary” can stop Max Verstappen winning the Austrian Grand Prix after a “demonstration of power” in qualifying in Spielberg.
Verstappen claimed his eighth pole position of the F1 2024 season at the Red Bull Ring, with the three-time World Champion’s Q3 time of 1:04.314 a huge 0.404 seconds faster than the second-placed McLaren of Lando Norris.
Helmut Marko ‘surprised’ by Max Verstappen Austrian GP pole advantage
It comes after a challenging run of races for Red Bull, who despite winning three of the last four races with Verstappen struggled with the challenges presented by kerbs and bumps in Emilia Romagna, Monaco and Canada over recent weeks.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the session, Verstappen described his four-tenth advantage as “a great statement” with Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri acknowledging the lap as a “reality check” for Red Bull’s rivals.
According to German publication Motorsport-Magazin, Marko admitted Red Bull were “also surprised” by the extent of Verstappen’s “unbelievable” gap on such a compact circuit.
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He said: “We are also surprised, but the whole team did an excellent job.
“Four tenths on this track is unbelievable. That was a demonstration of power!”
Verstappen faced a small threat to his pole position after being found to have driven too slowly on the outlap ahead of his final qualifying effort, with the stewards opting to take no further action.
Speaking before the stewards’ decision was communicated, Marko anticipated the outcome by commenting: “This is such a bureaucratic investigation. I cannot imagine that it will have consequences.”
With Verstappen on pole and Norris second, the grid for the grand prix is identical to that for the sprint race held in Austria on Saturday morning.
Verstappen enjoyed a thrilling battle with Norris in the opening laps of the mini race, being briefly overtaken before repassing the McLaren with a late move into the downhill right-hander of Turn 4.
Norris, who ultimately finished third after losing a further position to Piastri, commented after the sprint that he “left the door open like an amateur” in battle with Verstappen.
The British driver will lead McLaren’s charge after Piastri saw his final qualifying lap, which had been good enough for third place, deleted due to a track limits breach.
Marko believes the absence of Piastri from the lead battle could work in Norris’s favour on Sunday, yet has backed Verstappen to ease to victory.
He added: “Norris can then concentrate on Max and doesn’t have a team-mate breathing down his neck.”
“But with the lead, two new sets of hard tyres in these temperatures and the way Max is driving, only something extraordinary can stop him.”
Verstappen will go in search of his 52nd win in the last 77 races stretching back to the start of his maiden title-winning season in 2021.
He holds a 71-point lead over Norris in the Drivers’ standings heading into the Austrian Grand Prix.