Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has praised Sergio Perez for his impressive qualifying result ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix amid Max Verstappen’s drop in the rankings. Verstappen entered qualifying from Spa-Francorchamps knowing he would be penalised 10 places for facing a fifth combustion engine this weekend.

The three-time world champion, who has only taken pole position once in the last seven races, was easily the fastest driver in qualifying.

Verstappen set the fastest lap in Q3 by nearly six-tenths of a second to Charles Leclerc behind him.

“That means Max is really the best, especially in these conditions,” said Marko.

“But it’s also important that McLaren [who finished fifth and sixth] are not as strong in the rain as they usually are in the dry.

“That means our starting position has improved. It will be a very, very interesting race.”

Sergio Perez, who has been struggling recently, had a strong session and will start the race in second place alongside Leclerc.

“It’s great to see Sergio really improving,” said Marko. “With Max back on, he was on the front row and then things got a lot better.”

“We really can’t let those bad things happen, it’s hard to live with that.”