Marko does not fear punishment: 'Verstappen clearly lifted'

Max Verstappen may start Saturday's sprint race in Italy from pole position. The Dutchman convinced with an excellent time, although he had to abort his lap in the third sector early. Helmut Marko does not expect Verstappen to receive another penalty, he told Sky Sports Deutschland.

The Dutchman saw Charles Leclerc set a good time at the beginning of Q3, so he knew he had to get going. Verstappen was doing well to get past Leclerc when he suddenly had to deal with a yellow flag. He then seemingly went off the gas to comply with the rules.

"He lifted, he clearly lifted," Marko judged afterwards. "He only drove the third-fastest time of the session in the third sector, so there can be no penalty from that."

Partly due to several red flags, Sergio Perez failed to get into the top five. The Mexican struggled with the wet weather conditions and as a result, did not get further than a seventh time. Carlos Sainz did even less by ending up on P10.