The test drives for the new Formula 1 season have led to Red Bull for some disillusionment. Advisor Helmut Marko told RTL/NTV and Sport.de, why he is still not disappointed with the new racing car and how big the distance to the greatest competitor McLaren really is.
The desired World Cup title defense by Max Verstappen in Formula 1 could be an extremely challenging task for Red Bull. Mastermind Helmut Marko interprets in an exclusive interview with RTL/NTV and sport.de A tough fight – not just with McLaren.
Helmut Markos statements are also available in the video above, which opens instead of the article image.
Marko sees the width of the victorious candidates as “significantly grown”. “In my opinion, it will be a three -way fight or four -way fight between McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and us,” says Marko. “With McLaren, if you take the test results, it already has a lead. It was like this in both the short and long runs.” That is “not alarming. We have made progress, but current favorite is clearly McLaren.”
The Formula 1 world puzzles: How big is the distance to McLaren really?
“It is difficult to say what it looks like, because the weather conditions were completely apart from the norm. It was cold, it was strong wind. It even rained,” explains Marko. And at the same times, Verstappen did not drive long runs. So comparability is a problem.
“It was only the case on Wednesday, we were at eye level with McLaren. But on Friday, on Friday, on the last day I would say that our gap in the Long Run is currently two to three tenths. In addition, the tire wear on McLaren was also significantly better than our data indicated,” said Marko.
Formula 1: Marko wants to “benefit” from McLaren-Duell
The 81-year-old first pushes the favorite role in the World Cup. “If you take the test in Bahrain, it is Lando Norris who got along much better than Oscar Piatri,” says Marko. “But I believe that this was only a appearance of Bahrain. I appreciate Piatri equally strongly and I hope that the two points take away and we benefit from it.”
The thesis goes like this: A wild duel between the two strong McLaren pilots would then play Red Bull, especially defending champion, in the World Cup fight. Because compared to the British, Verstappen is the undisputed team leader.
Helmut Marko in Bahrain
“With us, Max is the clear number one, and I do not think that Piatri voluntarily can be declared number two. And you saw that in the previous season: on the previous season, he was equal, if not even faster than Lando. But the advantage is that McLaren currently has a car that – if you now take Bahrain – get along very well with every tire type and with every temperature.”
Marko relies on Joker Max Verstappen
The Austrian emphasizes that he is “not disappointed” by the new RB21. “But it would have been nice if our adaptations and innovations had worked right away.” He recognizes a positive tendency: “The car is more predictable. The car reacts to technical things as it should react. It is not the arbitrariness that we had last year.”
Some of the new parts would have worked, partly “not working”, says Marko. “That means there is still a development and improvement in the area of the possible with the existing material.”
But Red Bull has another ass. “So if the car is not optimal, then we have the Joker Max, who then has to bring his driver’s brilliance into play.”
But it is clear: “McLaren is favorite everywhere by car”. Also at the start of the season in Melbourne.
The new Formula 1 season begins with the Grand Prix of Australia (March 14th to 16th, live at Sky). Then the F1-Tross travels to China, the race of Shanghai shows RTL like six more live on Free TV.