Red Bull's Helmut Marko reflects on Spanish GP win despite facing 'great difficulties'

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admitted the team was over the moon with the 1-2 finish at the Spanish Grand Prix.

What turned into a perfect day for Reb Bull began as anything but after Max Verstappen was forced into an early pit stop after spinning off.

To make matters worse, he had trouble passing George Russell in the Mercedes because his DRS failed to open several times.

Despite all of that, though, due to some good driving and unfortunate circumstances for other drivers - such as Charles Leclerc retiring with an engine problem - Red Bull could claim maximum points.

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'More than happy'

"We are more than happy, because we had great difficulties," Marko said after the race. "The DRS often didn't open, but sometimes it did. That forced us to go from the original two-stopper to a three-stopper, because otherwise we couldn't pass Russell.

"We also had problems with the temperature, but when we can drive in free air, we have proven to be the fastest car in the field. As long as Max drove on the kerbs, the DRS would not open. Then he got irritated and sometimes pressed the DRS button more often, causing it to close."

Marko added that Verstappen's frustrations were "understandable" given the situation.

"We had to solve the problem ourselves and thought we had succeeded in doing so after the modifications we carried out after qualifying, but apparently not."