Verstappen penalty offers Marko ray of light with Perez

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has praised Sergio Perez for his strong qualifying result ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix amid Max Verstappen’s grid drop.

Verstappen entered the qualifying outing from the Spa-Francorchamps track knowing a 10-place grid penalty would be applied due to taking on a fifth internal combustion engine this weekend.

The three-time world champion, who has taken pole position just once in the last seven races, was easily the fastest driver in qualifying.

Verstappen set the fastest lap in Q3 with almost six-tenths of a second gap to Charles Leclerc behind.

“It means that Max is absolutely the best, especially in these conditions,” Marko told ServusTV. 

“But it is also crucial that McLaren [who qualified fifth and sixth] was not as strong in the rain as they are likely to be during the race in dry conditions. 

“That means our starting position has improved. It will be a very, very exciting race.”

Sergio Perez, who has been enduring a difficult run of form of late, enjoyed a strong session and will start the race from second place alongside Leclerc.

“It’s great to see that Sergio has really improved,” Marko said. “With Max being put back, he is on the front row and then it all looks much better again.

“We can’t actually have those lows, it’s hard to live with that.”