'Thank Goodness': Marko Relieved To See Leclerc Starting Further Away From Red Bulls

Saturday, 06 April 2024 at 21:30

Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko seemed relieved after watching Charles Leclerc qualify far behind his drivers as the Monegasque showed the quickest pace in long runs.

Coming into qualifying, the Red Bul Racing team was probably most worried about Ferrari, which showed promising pace in both short and long runs during the first practice session at Suzuka Circuit.

Right after their first run, it was clear the team from Milton Keynes would have no match in qualifying on Saturday, although all of the teams were closer than last year.

In the end, Max Verstappen won four consecutive pole positions, but what initially caught Helmut Marko's eye was Sergio Perez's performance. Checo pretty much matched the Dutchman's times on multiple occasions.

In the end, the Mexican missed on pole by 0.066 seconds, all of which he lost in the last corner of his final run, which was actually better than Verstappen's until that point. Marko told ORF:

"He did better than expected, especially after the bad weekend he had here at Suzuka last year. He improved incredibly and in the corners of the first sector, which are some of the fastest, he really kept up with Max."

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Last year, the Japanese Grand Prix was Perez's lowest point of the season. He qualified in P5 but didn't finish the race due to multiple mistakes.

This year, though, the 34-year-old driver seems to be in much better form, and his qualifying performance only proved it. While he might be thinking of even challenging Verstappen for the win, Perez will have to be careful of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz right behind. Marko continued:

"The McLarens have finally found their rhythm again. I think we will have to contend with McLaren and Ferrari, it will be between us and them."

All the teams analyzed each other's race pace performance during practice session simulations, and Marko previously said Charles Leclerc looked very quick. However, he was relieved to see that the 26-year-old driver would start only from P8.

"[Charles] Leclerc is relatively far back, I have to say. Thank goodness, because he was the quickest in the long runs."