Helmut Marko praised both Pérez and Cunoda after Australia. And he even found a positive thing about Max Verstappen’s retirement.
Max Verstappen had to retire shortly after the start of the race due to a brake problem. “We have yet to find out exactly what caused Max’s brake failure as most of the team is still scattered around the world on the way back from Melbourne,” Marko wrote for SpeedWeek.
“Unfortunately, our weekend in Australia didn’t start well in practice. We were clearly behind. There was no sign of the dominance we had in the first two races. That we still managed to do so well in qualifying with Max taking 1st and Checo 6th was a fantastic team performance. In the race, Max stated that he would easily match Sainz’s pace up front. That’s why he was disappointed and angry about the resignation.”
(…) at least no one will keep asking us if we will win all the races. I’m glad this issue was resolved so soon.
“Until I resigned, the atmosphere in the team was the one I know, full of fighting spirit. We were a little sad after that, but at least no one will keep asking us if we’re going to win all the races. I’m glad this issue was resolved so soon.’
Pérez finished in fifth place. According to Mark, his race was good because he had a damaged car. Christian Horner said after the race that it happened during a fight with Alonso. According to Mark, it was because of the curbs.
“Sergio didn’t have a bad race, on the contrary. It had quite extensive floor damage from driving over high curbs.’
Marko reminded that Verstappen also had a damaged car on Friday. “Just to be safe, we removed his engine so Honda could make sure there was no damage.”
“We don’t know exactly where Pérez’s floor suffered damage because at times he was able to set the same times as the riders in front, but then his times dropped dramatically due to the tire shredding. It’s still not clear if the extremely heavy wear was caused by a damaged floor or if our setup was destroying the tires too much.”
In Suzuka, Iwasa will drive in FP1
“Daniel’s speed has improved, but Júki is riding at a very high level at the moment – and remains flawless. Franz Tost and I always believed in him, we never doubted his speed. His problem was a lack of control, impulsiveness and a tendency to make mistakes. All of that is gone this season. Yuki came to Europe very young and that is very, very difficult for Japanese people. It’s a completely different life for us. But now things are developing well and Júki is recognized in the rider market.”
Marko confirmed that the RB team will field Ajuma Iwasu, who drove in F2 last year and now competes in Japanese Super Formula, in the first practice session in Japan. Although Marko did not say it directly, it is clear that he will replace Ricciardo in training.
Each team must field a young rider (who has a maximum of two grand prix) in the first two practices of the season.
