Marko sets Verstappen mission after vital F1 sprint victory

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has set Max Verstappen the target to qualify ahead of Lando Norris after winning the F1 Sprint at the Circuit of the Americas. 

Verstappen comfortably converted sprint pole into his 11th sprint victory, and extended his lead over Norris in the F1 drivers' title to 54 points. 

The three-time world champion looked strong across the 19-lap race, with Verstappen's tyre wear having been better than Norris'. 

McLaren had informed Norris that Verstappen's rear tyres were heavily degrading; however, as pointed out by Marko, that was not the case. 

"Max got off to a good start and kept the tyres alive," Marko told ServusTV. "We compared the tyre situation with Norris, who thought our rear tyres were degrading. 

"But Max had that under control. If the Ferraris had worked together more, I think it would have been even harder for Norris. But we took two more points."

Ferrari threat

As mentioned by Marko, Ferrari had excellent pace during the sprint, although an early battle between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz cost the duo valuable time. 

Despite this, both drivers had strong late-race pace, suggesting that the Maranello-based team's tyre degradation is very good. 

Assessing the threat of Ferrari, Marko agreed that the Italian outfit was Red Bull's biggest challenger in the sprint. 

"In this race I would say yes, because they were fighting each other intensely for almost 10 laps, taking time away from each other and still being surprisingly fast at the end," said Marko. 

"So maybe that [fight] was even an advantage for us."

The sprint win for Verstappen is a significant boost for Red Bull ahead of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, with the team's last win having been the Red Bull Ring sprint race. 

For qualifying, Marko has set a clear target of what Verstappen needs to achieve.

"I think above all we need to find an optimal set-up for the race," added Marko. "You can overtake here and we have to look at tyre wear. 

"But the most important thing is to finish ahead of Norris. And I think we can be on the front row again if things go well."