The Austrian Grand Prix clarified that Max Verstappen is the man to beat this season. With another lights-to-flag victory in yesterday’s race, the Dutchman extended his lead on Lewis Hamilton to 32 points at the top of the driver’s championship.

Despite the Dutchman’s dominance, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believed Verstappen didn’t unleash the car’s full potential yesterday. In addition, he believes there is more to come.

Marko admits Red Bull told Max Verstappen to run with less power during the Austrian Grand Prix

Verstappen stormed to his fifth win of the season and his third on the trot at Red Bull’s home race yesterday. In addition, the Dutchman finished a whopping 17 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas despite stopping twice for fresh tires.

Despite the massive gap, Marko admitted the team made Verstappen switch to a lower engine setting during the race. The Austrian also believes Mercedes couldn’t close the gap to them despite running at full power. He said, “Lewis Hamilton ran at full power for certain phases. Max at one point scaled back the engine and ran with less power because we asked him to.

“It’s reassuring and gives us a good feeling to know Mercedes is trying to get closer. But with a Honda engine that delivers less power, she can’t get close to us.” (Quotes translated from Google)

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Marko: Everything’s easier at the front

The 78-year-old believes the difference between Red Bull‘s and Mercedes‘ pace was highlighted in yesterday’s race. He said, “Everything gets easier when you drive at the front. That became even clearer this weekend than last week. This weekend was the highlight of the last three races.”

With 14 races to go, Verstappen looks the outright favorite to win the world title this season. However, with the British Grand Prix in two weeks’ time, Lewis Hamilton could be a more serious threat in his home race.

Can Verstappen clinch his first F1 world title this season? Only time will tell.

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