Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has asserted Max Verstappen would’ve still prevailed in Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix driving either the McLaren or Mercedes cars.
Verstappen emerged victorious in a thrilling race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve that comprised mixed conditions and three different leaders to log his 60th career win.
However, Lando Norris believes that McLaren “should” have won without the indecision on the pit wall that saw him pit one lap later than his rivals under a Safety Car.
Meanwhile, George Russell controlled proceedings from pole position in the opening stages but rued several errors as he slipped to third amid Mercedes’ resurgence.
When asked whether Verstappen would have triumphed with the McLaren MCL38 or Mercedes W15 at his disposal, Marko told the Austrian publication OE24: “Yes.
“Only Max has the race overview and the confidence to step on the gas when necessary. Apart from that, our team adopted absolutely the right strategy.”
Ferrari was billed as the overriding favourite heading into the Canadian GP weekend owing to its SF-24 car’s strength in being more compliant over kerbs and bumps.
But the Italian marque struggled to unlock speed and slumped to a double retirement, as Verstappen’s win extended Red Bull’s championship advantage to 49 points.
While recent races have exposed Red Bull’s kerb-riding vulnerabilities, Marko has admitted that inconsistent form from its rivals is aiding the champion’s title defence.
“It [the championship] won’t be a clear-cut story because our car and our simulator have certain weaknesses,” he commented. “But we are working hard to rectify this.
“We’ve always realised that we won’t win every race.
“It’s good for us that the others can’t get any consistency. If everything goes normally for us, Max will be ahead in the race.”
Red Bull couldn’t capitalise on Ferrari’s disastrous outing fully, though, as Sergio Perez endured a successive Q1 elimination before retiring with self-imposed damage.
The Mexican has been handed a three-place grid drop for Spain as the stewards determined that circulating with a disintegrating rear wing issued safety implications.
While the verdict said Red Bull admitted to wanting to avoid a Safety Car to protect Verstappen, Marko has argued the side didn’t realise how wounded Perez’s car was.
“We’re not going to discuss it any more, we’ll get over the three-place demotion,” the Austrian, 81, expressed.
“At the time, we didn’t know how serious the damage was. We couldn’t see it with the camera angle we had available.
“We wanted Checo to continue, because anything was possible in this race. And you never know how much debris will fly off.
“Others have driven around with more parts hanging off. Lewis Hamilton won once at Silverstone [in 2020] on three wheels.”
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