Marko: Red Bull strength 'good for Vettel'

Oct.5 - Dr Helmut Marko thinks Red Bull's strength could play into the hands of former team driver Sebastian Vettel this weekend at Suzuka.

Current Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won last weekend in Malaysia, and now Marko thinks the team will once again be strong in Japan.

"It could help Sebastian if we are ahead of Mercedes once again," Marko told Auto Bild.

He is referring to the fact that Mercedes notably struggled at Sepang, despite the fact that Ferrari's technical problems meant Vettel's points deficit to Lewis Hamilton blew out to 34 points.

"We will be strong in Suzuka again," Marko added. "And we are still developing our car.

"In qualifying, Mercedes is still stronger with the qualifying mode of their engine. But in the race we were stronger last time," he said.

Meanwhile, Marko has hinted that news about Pierre Gasly's future at the junior team Toro Rosso will be forthcoming this weekend.

"Gasly will definitely end the season with us," he said. "It is not yet decided about Austin, because he is able to win the Super Formula title in Japan."

But when asked about 2018, Marko said of Frenchman Gasly: "I expect him to be at Toro Rosso next year."

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Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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