Helmut Marko: “We have to develop a car that Max can attack with”

Red Bull managed to regain some confidence in Baku, when Perez fought for a place in the top three until his crash with Sainz, and in Singapore, where Verstappen returned to the podium, the Austrian team is going through its most delicate moment in years. In fact, Max has not won a race since Barcelona, eight grands prix, too many for the three-time champion. McLaren’s progress has been combined with the loss of performance of an RB20 that is struggling to find the right work advantage, but even so, Helmut Marko is clear about his bet on the champion: “Verstappen”.

“He’s the best, the fastest and, above all, he has great mental strength,” something that, according to the Red Bull advisor in Motorsport-Magazin, his main rival does not have: “Leclerc could theoretically be able to fight (he is 86 points behind), while Norris (52 behind) has some weaknesses, in fact, I have seen that he does some rituals before the races to be able to perform well”. For this reason, among other things, “It is a different duel than the one with Mercedes in 2021, it is not as emotional or as personal” as that fight with Hamilton was.

What Marko does highlight is the good work that McLaren has done with this generation of “ground effect cars that are very sensitive: “Ferrari, for example, brings an improvement and then falls, Mercedes wins some races and then they are the fourth force, also Aston Martin went from being a podium car last year to falling behind... The only one that has been consistent since Miami is McLaren. Their car is fast on all circuits, with all tyres and in all types of temperatures.”

That is to say, McLaren now occupies the place that Red Bull had, something that does not surprise the Austrian. “We were clear that things could not continue like this, winning practically every Grand Prix. Even so, the year started with success because Verstappen was able to win with a car that was no longer the fastest. We had the lowest point in Monza and there was turbulence around Horner that has now been resolved,” he recalls about his worst moment. Now they are rowing together with one goal: “We have to develop a car that Max can attack with.”

The team's departures "hurt"

Red Bull’s slump has come when they have lost several key members of their engineering team, led by Adrian Newey, and it is no coincidence: “We have had a few departures, especially Adrian’s, who is exceptional, and when you lose someone like him it is a crucial moment.

“When people have been so successful and you can’t offer them any opportunity to advance, in many cases we have not been able to match the offers that other teams have made to our employees, such as the case of Rob Marshall (who went to McLaren).”

“I would say it’s because of our success. It’s normal in F1 to try to poach people from the best team. All those names that have gone hurt, of course, but we have a lot of good young people and I’m sure they will make up for these departures. You have to give them time,” adds Marko about what is to come… with him within the team after making things clear.

“I have a strong connection with both Verstappens and what was clear to me was that if I continued it had to be in a structure that did not restrict my rights and possibilities,” he concluded.