F1 News: Red Bull Insider Reveals Why Max Verstappen Struggled At Austin GP

The drop in position from P1 to P6 is "dramatic."

Red Bull advisor and head of the driver development program Dr Helmut Marko revealed why Max Verstappen struggled at the Austin GP qualifying while expressing his dissatisfaction with the team's qualifying results. With rival teams being positioned strongly, he expects a tight race this weekend.

The 80-year-old spoke about knowing beforehand that it was going to be tight in Austin. In qualifying, Verstappen secured P6 after a deleted lap time for exceeding track limits while Perez went way down in P9.

Listen To The Latest Driven Mad Podcast Episode

Talking about Verstappen's dramatic drop in position from 1st to 6th, Marko told Servus TV:

"We knew it was going to be tight.

"On his first lap in Q3, Checo drove in the way, which was a mistake in communication. On the second lap, he braked a bit in the first corner, but then he made up for it. To then drop from first to sixth place is dramatic."

Verstappen's starting position might be one part of the problem. The elephant in the room right now is the cars in front of the world champion that churned some great lap times in qualifying. Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren competed for top positions on Friday, thus sending out a message that the GP in Austin could be a tough one for Red Bull. 

The Reason Behind The Struggle 

Marko revealed that he knows the reason behind the team's challenges on a rather bumpy track. He said:

"We were more affected by the bumps than others, so we could not drive with the height we wanted. In the long run, however, we can make up some ground.

"On Sunday, the temperature should be very high. Tyre wear should play a role, which is our strong point. Max has shown he has a good race pace but can still manage it."

Austin GP Results: Charles Leclerc Takes Pole Position At Iconic Circuit Of The Americas

There's another concern- the threat of Lewis Hamilton taking over P2 in the Drivers' Standings from Perez looms high due to the marginal gap between the two drivers. The Mexican driver will start from P9 while the seven-time world champion is strongly placed to start in third. Expecting Perez to gain more ground, Marko concluded:

"Qualifying was a clear improvement and Perez is always stronger in the race than in qualifying. We will see. Last year Hamilton was already one of our strongest opponents. Let's see how it looks tomorrow in the sprint race, but it's closer than we want."