Helmut Marko disagrees with Sergio Perez over Ferrari with “relatively easily” remark

Helmut Marko has disputed Sergio Perez’s claim that Ferrari would have won the Australian Grand Prix even if Max Verstappen didn’t DNF.

Verstappen retired on Lap 4 of the race in Australia due to a brake problem.

This allowed Carlos Sainz to take the first non-Red Bull victory since Singapore, and hand Ferrari their first 1-2 since Bahrain 2022.

After the race, Perez, who finished a lacklustre P5, felt that Ferrari were going to win irrespective of Verstappen’s issue.

“As a team we just didn’t have the pace today,” the Mexican told Sky Sports F1. “We didn’t have the pace throughout the weekend.

“We were struggling already from Friday and we never got on top of the management of tyres. I think we just have to understand and make sure we are able to improve.”

He then was asked if he thought Ferrari would have won if Verstappen remained in the race, he replied: “Absolutely, yes.”

Marko feels that the outcome of the Australian GP “would have been completely different” as Verstappen was able to keep up with Sainz “relatively easily.”

“I spoke to Max and he said that despite the problems, he kept up with Sainz’s pace relatively easily,” Marko told Sky Germany.

“With Max in the race, the outcome would have been completely different.”

Marko admitted Red Bull is still unsure on the exact cause of Verstappen’s terminal brake issue,

“We don’t know exactly yet, but already on the lap when Sainz overtook him, the brake didn’t release,” he added.

“In addition, he got slightly sideways and Sainz overtook him as a result. As a result, the brake got completely stuck and we are very glad that not everything caught fire. We need to evaluate the exact cause.”