Helmut Marko was left frustrated by Max Verstappen picking up some minor front wing damage during the second practice session in Barcelona.
Having complained vociferously about the vague track limits enforced by white lines and kerbs in Portugal, Marko was left exasperated as the Dutch driver damaged his front wing in second practice by hitting the kerbing at Turn 8 put in place to stop drivers straight-lining the exit of Turn 7.
The damage was only minor, with the endplate half ripped off, and likely wouldn’t have required a pitstop under race conditions, and Marko explained that the wing can be repaired.
“Here, you are punished in a different way”, Marko explained to Motorsport Magazin. “If the lap times are not taken away, then it is the front wings that will be damaged. We no longer have a spare, but the damaged front wings can be repaired. We will take care of that.”
With Verstappen finishing in ninth place, and Sergio Perez in 10th after a low-key second practice session, Marko said there’s no alarm at Red Bull and they are confident of matching Mercedes over the remainder of the weekend.
“There is no panic yet,” he explained. “There were some small things that were not right, we have not been able to finish a flawless run. It will be very exciting again, I am sure. We are within a tenth of each other.
“Only in the last sector we do not have a good comparison. At first, we drove a purple sector time there, but then we did not have a good run anymore.”
