Marko greets Empire of Wolff after victory in sprint race: ”Verstappen showed who’s boss”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confidently walked through the Silverstone paddock after qualifying and said without modesty: [van Mercedes] strikes back.” Not such a crazy thought, when you consider that the German success formation has won almost all competitions on the legendary circuit since 2014. Only Ferrari in 2018 will keep Mercedes from winning at the British GP.

Mercedes was therefore also the big favorite in the sprint race. However, Max Verstappen put a stop to it this time, becoming the second driver since the hybrid era to beat Mercedes on track at the British Grand Prix. Whether the Dutchman can repeat this for Sunday’s game remains to be seen, but the first blow to Wolff’s empire has been dealt.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull advisor, was very satisfied with the result afterwards. “The record is nice, but even more important are the three points,” the Red Bull adviser told the Austrian TV channel. ORF.

Max Verstappen’s lightning start, where Lewis Hamilton passed for the lead, played a crucial role in this, according to Marko. “Overtaking is not possible. We said to Max: ‘you have to make a decision at the beginning’. He did that, parried all attacks and showed who was boss. Greetings to the keizzerijk [van Toto Wolff].”

On the surface, Verstappen seemed to have an easy afternoon on sunny Silverstone. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to the Red Bull advisor. The rubber under the RB16B had a hard time. “It was biting nails because we also had quite a bit of vibration. So it won’t be easy in the Grand Prix. We will have to think carefully about the tire strategy,” said 78-year-old Marko.