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Marko Makes Shocking Engine Admission After Max Verstappen’s Dominant Austrian GP Win

Published 07/05/2021, 9:30 AM EDT

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via Reuters

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

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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.

via Reuters

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.

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“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)

WATCH: Max Verstappen Displays his Masterclass as a 12 Year Old on Karts

Marko: Everything’s easier at the front

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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.”

via Getty

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.

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

WATCH STORY: Mad Max: Verstappen’s Angriest Rants on Team Radio

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Written by:

Sanket Nair

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Sanket Nair is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. A Sports Management student, he is a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and hopes to see Red Bull break Mercedes' dominance and win the World Championship soon. Sanket has been hooked to the sport ever since he watched the battle for the 2010 World Championship go down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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