MONTREAL – Max Verstappen may have lost out to George Russell in qualifying, but Helmut Marko isn’t fazed as he believes Mercedes’ tyre wear is “significantly worse” than Red Bull’s. The reigning world champion Verstappen will start second in the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix, having been narrowly beaten to pole position by Russell by just over two-tenths of a second.

Verstappen’s Chances at the canadian GP

The race is poised to be a thrilling rematch for the Spanish Grand Prix rivals. Their previous encounter ended in controversy when Verstappen’s aggressive maneuver resulted in a collision that Russell deemed “very deliberate.”

Stewards determined that Verstappen was responsible for the incident, handing him a 10-second penalty and three penalty points on his Super License, leaving him just one point away from a race ban.

Verstappen will face Russell at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with the threat of a ban looming. He needs to overtake Russell at the start to seize the lead.

“We can live with second place,especially if you look at the long runs,” Marko told Servustv.

Qualifying Highlights from Montreal

Verstappen has stated that he