29/06/2025 13:00
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has handed Max Verstappen a worrying
truth ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, that securing a podium from
seventh on the grid is "not realistic". The four-time world
champion endured a disappointing qualifying at the Red Bull Ring
after being forced to bail out of his final lap in Q3. Verstappen
had looked set to jump to second or third on the timesheets;
however, a spin for Pierre Gasly at the final corner saw yellow
flags cause the Dutchman to abort his lap. As a result, the
27-year-old will have to fight through the bulk of the top 10 to
salvage a good result, with Marko noting that the team will be
forced into an "aggressive strategy". "Well, we probably won't
start seeing the soft tyre again," Marko told ORF . "Nobody has a
set of new soft tyres left, but other than that, we still have to
analyse it all. "So a lot will depend on that, but in all
probability it will also be a lot warmer during the race than on
Saturday. "And we have to come up with a more aggressive strategy
anyway, since we are starting from seventh place." The sole boost
for the reigning world champion is that his race pace looked
promising throughout the practice sessions, to the extent that it
was on a par with the McLarens. However, with so much ground to be
made up, Marko has recognised that a podium is off the cards,
unless a crazy race takes place. "It really won't be easy,"
insisted Marko. "If the race just goes normally, i.e. without too
many peculiarities, a podium finish is not realistic..."
