Marko unsurprised by latest Verstappen 'magic' moment

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was not surprised to see Max Verstappen qualify on the front row, despite a turbulent Mexico City Grand Prix so far. 

The reigning world champion suffered from floor damage and a power unit problem on the opening day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, before complaining of no grip in third practice. 

Despite the difficulties, Verstappen extracted everything he could from the RB20 to secure second on the grid. The same could not be said for Sergio Perez, who was eliminated in Q1.

Verstappen could not challenge Carlos Sainz for pole position who was in a league of his own, but actually did well to qualify second under late pressure. 

His first lap in Q3 was eliminated for exceeding track limits, leaving the 27-year-old with just one lap to salvage a strong starting position. 

Marko was never concerned and was not shocked to see the three-time world champion recover second on the grid.

"No, we lost three to four tenths in the third sector and had to get that under control," Marko told Sky DE. 

"Then it would look good, which turned out to be the case. And of course it was another magic lap by Max. After his lap was cancelled, he kept his nerves in check again and drove a perfect lap."

Following qualifying, Marko was not only quick to praise Verstappen, the Austrian was also sharp to compliment the Milton Keynes-based team's engineers. 

Verstappen's car underwent a lot of work ahead of third practice and after the final practice session to get it into the right operating window before parc fermé.

"We have to praise the engineers, a big compliment to them," added Marko. "They found the right direction for a car working in a narrow window. 

"I would also say that the higher temperatures, close to 13 degrees [warmer], helped us."