Helmut Marko believes that Max Verstappen attempted a clever "trick" in the closing laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After Ferrari's double retirement following mechanical issues for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Verstappen had a mostly unchallenged drive to victory following his overtake on teammate Sergio Perez on Lap 15 of the race. The pair brought home a 1-2 for Red Bull, with Verstappen finishing some 20 seconds up the road from Perez by the chequered flag. This result certainly went down well with Marko, who told Austrian media outlet Servus TV : "Order has been restored."
Did Verstappen play a "trick" in the final laps?
In the final stages of the race, Verstappen was told not to push for the fastest lap. However, Marko thinks that the Dutchman tried to find a way around this. "He distracted everyone on the penultimate lap with his trick," Marko claimed. "Max said he had a problem with the brakes, but then he drove a purple sector." The extra point for fastest lap ultimately went to Perez, with Verstappen's attempt 0.004 seconds short.
Red Bull to investigate pit-stop problems
Perez's point for fastest lap means that Red Bull scored maximum points for the team in Baku. One area where they did not have quite the usual level of success, though, was in the pit-stops. The team are known for their speed in the pits, but there were some slower stops during the Azerbaijan race, with Perez's first visit proving to be particularly long. Marko has called for the Milton Keynes-based squad to look into why this happened. "All pit-stops today were not perfect for some reason," he commented. "Fortunately, during the race this did not make the difference. "We are filming everything and our team manager, Jonathan Wheatley, already ordered during the race which details he wants investigated."
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