Marko shocked by 'overwhelming' Verstappen victory

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has conceded he was surprised by the ease of victory for Max Verstappen at the F1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Dutchman led from lights to flag to lead teammate Sergio Perez home by 22.4 seconds and get his title defence off to a perfect start.

Ferrari had looked to be in the hunt to challenge Red Bull after testing but following Verstappen's win, Marko told ServusTV: "It was overwhelming.

"This was not what we expected, but everything just worked. Max won at the start and then just disappeared. You can't describe it any other way,

"His superiority could be seen because his fastest lap was two seconds faster than anyone else."

Marko on Perez: 'There was no point attacking'

A number of Red Bull's rivals struggled with car overheating issues during the 57-lap event but Marko explained: "Max always drove in clean air, so for him there was no problem.

"It didn't affect his car."

Perez would have hoped to have started the new season closer to Verstappen yet the margin of victory was almost double of the same race last term.

But backing the Mexican, Marko said: "Checo controlled the gap to Sainz. There was no point in attacking.

"Anyway: it was an overwhelmingly good result. The strategy, the pit stops, it was incredible."