Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says the fallout from Sergio Perez’s late crash in the Azerbaijan GP was “like an avalanche” as it also impacted Max Verstappen’s title hopes.
Perez was in contention for a podium when he was involved in a collision with Carlos Sainz.
The loss of those constructors’ points as well as a two-place bonus for Lando Norris handed the World Championship lead to McLaren.
However the VSC ending to the race also cost Verstappen a shot at the fastest lap bonus point after he made a late stop for fresh tyres.
It went instead to Norris, helping him to gain three points on Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.
“I think Sainz made quite an aggressive move,” Marko told form1au.uno. “It was unnecessary three from the end. A lot of damage, we lost a lot of points in the constructors‘.
“With the fastest lap we would have lost only one point [to Norris], not three. It was like an avalanche.”
Asked if winning the constructors’ title was now looking difficult he said: “Without the crash damage it wouldn’t have been so bad. But it’s also for all the employees – they all are on a bonus on the constructors’, not on the driver’s championship.”
On the plus side the RB20 performed much better after a revised floor was fast-tracked for Baku, and it was a set-up change that made life difficult for Verstappen.
“You saw it on Checo,” said Marko. “Checo could follow the whole race between one and three seconds. So that’s a positive thing.
“Max was following for two laps, the brakes were overheating, the tyres started graining.
“And that’s the negative thing, that the car is still so on the edge if you do the wrong setup. I mean, it was not dramatically different, but it’s different.
“But nobody thought that the reaction would be like that. I mean, all this jumping, and he couldn’t brake.”
Marko remains positive that the team can have a strong race in Singapore, although a lot of parts were lost in the Perez accident and that could compromise the weekend.
“There’s no need to panic,” he said. “But Checo’s car is heavily damaged, so we will have problems with the parts we have, and the right setup.
“I think it’s now more to make a car for Checo so he can race. So the real potential we will see in Austin.”
