Red Bull concedes defeat in the F1 Spanish GP as Max Verstappen too far behind McLaren in terms of performance

Red Bull's Helmut Marko feels a podium is the best result that Max Verstappen can hope for at the F1 Spanish GP, as McLaren appears to have too much in reserve for Sunday. The race weekend in Barcelona has seen the implementation of the FIA technical directive that limits the flexi wing oscillation.

This was expected to have an impact on McLaren, as the reigning champions have been the pioneers when it comes to flexi-wings in the current regulations. Red Bull, on the other hand, has more or less put together a limited solution for their cars, and the directive was not expected to have any impact on them.

Coming to Barcelona, the fast-speed nature of the track was expected to help Red Bull and Max Verstappen, just like it had done at Imola, where the Dutch driver won the race and contested for pole position. This time around, it does appear that McLaren had a decent advantage over the chasing pack, and the two drivers locked the front row.

Talking about Verstappen's qualifying and what he could expect from the race, Helmut Marko felt that Red Bull had made a step forward compared to the reigning champion, but the gap was still big enough to prevent Verstappen from contesting for a win. He told Sky Sports:

"The balance was more satisfying this time. It's just that the softer the tyres and the higher the temperatures, the less grip we have. And how do you solve that? I don't know yet. But overall we've come a step closer to McLaren."

He added:

"We can't be optimistic for the race... But a podium should at least be possible."

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Max Verstappen feels 3rd was the best result available for Red Bull

Max Verstappen feels that 3rd position was the best that he could have done with the Red Bull under him. The Dutch driver's first run had seen him half a second off the benchmark, and it was only in his second lap that he put everything together. Talking to Alex Brundle on the live telecast after the session, the driver admitted that this was the best that he could have done with the car. He said:

"We were lacking all weekend compared to them [McLaren]. We executed well. Third is where we more or less should be. It's fun. Around here it's about squeezing everything out of the car."

Winning from outside of pole position is something that doesn't often happen at Barcelona, but the last driver to do so was Max Verstappen in 2016. This time around as well, he would be hoping to put together something similar.