According to Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko, the team neglected qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix in order to focus on race day where Verstappen is anticipated to secure a record-breaking win.
Max Verstappen, who is now leading the championship, was edged out by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by a mere 0.013 seconds in front of the frenzied Tifosi, on his homesoil.
The Scuderia displayed flaming one-lap pace at Monza, as the Dutchman trailed behind Sainz in both the second and final practices.
Verstappen had to settle for second place after having pushed Charles Leclerc off the provisional pole with his final effort. However, Sainz ultimately defeated Verstappen in the final qualifying round.
following a weekend that was far from easy, teammate Sergio Perez will start fifth following an unfortunate incident, that resulted to an oil leak, and ultimately lead to a power unit replacement during practice.
Giving an insight to Red Bull’s qualifying, Helmut Marko told ORF: “We already knew that Ferrari would be strong and we never really focused on pole position.
“Looking at how we went about it with the set-up, for the race it is a lot more important than for qualifying.
“With these positions, we have a good tactical and strategic advantage.”
The Red Bull boss also touched on Sainz securing pole position, believing it was the best for the atmosphere in Italy.
