Helmut Marko: “Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for the pole and for beating Charles Leclerc” | China Sprint. Helmut Marko had high praise for Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.

A flash of brilliance

Lewis Hamilton’s pole position for the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix—set to start at 4:00 AM Central European Standard Time—made headlines worldwide, as it marked the first major achievement of the British champion with Ferrari. While Sprint qualifying does not award points, it certainly serves as a strong introduction for Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari fans, who were left disoriented after the disappointing race in Australia.

Helmut Marko praises Lewis Hamilton

Among those congratulating Lewis Hamilton was Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, in an interview with Motorsport.com: “I think they had an unfortunate event in Melbourne. But here in China, Ferrari has been strong since FP1. And congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for taking pole position in only his second race in red.”

Helmut Marko went on to express his admiration for Charles Leclerc’s talent: “Let’s not forget he’s up against an incredible qualifier like Leclerc. I mean, it’s an amazing result.”

The former Austrian driver concluded without making any predictions for the Sprint and the Grand Prix: “With this new asphalt, tire degradation will be lower. We’ll see who can maintain great speed over the race distance.”