Marko claims Ferrari ‘squeezed’ engines in bid to win home race at Monza

Carlos Sainz’s valiant defence was not enough to stop Max Verstappen from claiming a record 10th successive win at the Italian Grand Prix as the Red Bull driver denied Ferrari a victory at Monza. 

Despite ultimately having to settle with third and fourth in the race, Ferrari’s performance across the weekend, particularly in qualifying, caught the eye. 

Sainz narrowly pipped Verstappen to take a popular pole position, while teammate Charles Leclerc ended up third-quickest. 

And Marko believes that Ferrari turned up their power units to the maximum in their desperation to seal a famous home win.

“We knew that Ferrari would put everything possible into Monza,” Marko told Servus TV. “They went to the maximum and squeezed out the last horsepower.

“But we also knew that the engine would suffer later for that. Unlike them, we have a universal car. So we knew it would be tight and didn’t lose our nerve.

“But we were still surprised that we didn’t keep up with Ferrari at first,” Marko, 80, continued. “Max [Verstappen] had to drive differently and change his strategy and just be patient.

“The Max of four or five years ago would not have had that patience.”

Verstappen’s victory maintained Red Bull’s invincible start to the 2023 season.