Red Bull’s top advisor, Helmut Marko, expressed satisfaction ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen secured the second starting position in Montreal on Saturday. Only Mercedes rival George Russell was faster – the Brit will start from pole position on Sunday. However, Marko has already noticed during the race weekend that Mercedes was less strong in the long runs. Moreover, he expects that starting from P2 is an excellent position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
For a moment, it seemed Max Verstappen had a chance at pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Dutchman improved the time of World Championship leader Oscar Piastri in the final phase of the qualification, but George Russell proved to be lightning fast in the second sector and eventually dipped a tenth under Verstappen’s time. This secured the 27-year-old Brit the pole. Nevertheless, Helmut Marko is confident of a good result on Sunday – Mercedes would be less competitive during the long runs.
“With the second place, we can live quite well, especially if you look at the long runs. Mercedes looked significantly worse in terms of tire wear, and last year Max also won from P2,” Marko told Austrian ServusTV. In 2024, Verstappen also had to tolerate Russell ahead of him in the qualification, but he managed to triumph – in a race plagued by heavy rainfall. “It was also quite complicated with the tires, so we have kept both softs and mediums to keep our options open,” Marko explained.
