Marko sees Verstappen can be in the 'bunch' after Red Bull's 'one of the best Fridays in a long time'

After FP2, Max Verstappen said he had an "okay Friday" at the Barcelona circuit. During the second session of the day, the Dutchman set the third quickest lap time, and finished only behind Oscar Piastri and George Russell.

"It was the very best Friday since [a] long [time]. The car has a balance and the effect of the whole change is minimal," Marko began answering GPblog's questions in the paddock, also reflecting on the front wing technical directive first introduced for this weekend.

"The four top teams are closer together, but still McLaren is the fastest. In the long run we could match with the soft as well as the medium tyre where we have to improve within the qualified models," Marko continued.

Asked about how optimistic he is about rest of the weekend, Marko said: "I think we will be [in] the bunch hopefully who is fighting for the win. As I said Piastri was much quicker in [the] qualifying [run]. On the other side Norris was a better one in the long run. So if he can put us in between it could give a very good aspect."