Marko reveals how easily Verstappen dominated Sprint

Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko has warned Max Verstappen's São Paulo Grand Prix Sprint victory saw the Dutchman driving well within his limits.

Verstappen defeated McLaren's Lando Norris by 4.2secs in the 24-lap event having made the move for the lead off the line and into Turn 1.

It gave an ominous indication as to how Red Bull will perform across a race stint at Interlagos having been pressed throughout qualifying and the Sprint Shootout.

"Already in the first corner Verstappen was ahead and after that he managed his tyres incredibly well," Marko told Sky Germany.

"At no point did he drive faster than he needed to. As soon as Lando got near the DRS gap, Verstappen managed to put half a second on top of it [the gap] right away.

"In the end, he went a bit faster and therefore we are very optimistic for Sunday."

Lambiase Verstappen chat explained

Despite the ease of victory, Verstappen was in conversation with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over his sectional speeds relative to Norris midway through the Sprint.

Explaining the chat, Marko said: "There was a discussion about where we would push a bit more: in the fast corners or in the slow corners?

"When we looked at the tyres, we decided to bring a little more speed in the fast corners."