Helmut Marko declares ‘Red Bull is back’ as Max Verstappen makes ‘it’s been a while’ admission

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in Sprint Qualifying at COTA, resulting in a very happy Helmut Marko.

The championship leader finished at the top of a competitively timed session for the first time since qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, putting to an end a barren five-month run.

Helmut Marko: Red Bull is back

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Verstappen proved comfortable throughout Friday’s running at the Circuit of the Americas, finishing a close third to the Ferraris in the one and only practice session as the teams attempted to get to grips with their upgrades.

Red Bull is boasting some updates to the RB20 this weekend, including a floor edge tweak and reprofile sidepod upper surface, with the Milton Keynes-based squad aiming to rectify some recent balance issues that have sapped their car of performance through the middle portion of the season.

Having rolled back on some updates in a bid to better understand the misstep, the changes for this weekend appear to have paid off as Verstappen looked visibly more at ease behind the wheel and pipped George Russell by 0.012 seconds to take the fastest time of Sprint Qualifying.

He’ll start from top spot for the points-paying 19-lap race, with championship rival Lando Norris in fourth.

Speaking to PlanetF1.com following the session, a visibly jubilant Helmut Marko explained that it had been a good day for the team.

“I would say Red Bull is back,” he said.

“Yes, Red Bull is back.”

Max Verstappen, speaking to race engineer GianPiero Lambiase and Christian Horner over team radio as he returned to the pits after setting the fastest time, was also a happy driver as he said: “Let’s go! Nice one. Happy with that, thank you guys. A good return after a little break, well done.”

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Interviewed by James Hinchcliffe in the pitlane straight afterward, Verstappen said he could feel the car was working more to his liking and that it had “been a while” since he’d been on top.

“Yeah, we had a good day,” he said.

“Sprint quali is always very difficult as you do medium, medium, soft, and you never really know how much you can push.

“I’m happy with today, the whole day the car was working quite well and, of course, I’m happy to be first – it’s been a while! So yeah, very pleased with today.”

Given that Red Bull was trying to get on top of its updates over the course of the one-hour practice session, Verstappen said he’d enjoyed the challenge of the day.

“It’s always very hectic,” he said.

“This track is amazing to drive, but with new tarmac and a little bit of older tarmac – the really old tarmac, the bumpy stuff – it’s not easy. At the end of the day, it’s the same for everyone but, to deal with it over one lap, is not always the easiest. But it’s fun.

“We’ll do the best we can tomorrow in the Sprint but, of course, we also know the most points are on Sunday. So that’s where we want to really do well.”

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