Helmut Marko has shared what he believes will be the ‘big advantage’ Red Bull will have over McLaren and Ferrari in the upcoming races.
Max Verstappen‘s win margins in his last two Grands Prix victories have decreased significantly compared to the start of the season, while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have both recently taken wins away from the Dutchman.
It has led to a 56-point gap between him and Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship while Ferrari trail Red Bull by 49 points in the Constructors’ table but Marko explained in his Speedweek column why he’s still confident that the Austrian manufacturer will have the upper hand this season.
Helmut Marko expects rivals inconsistency to benefit Red Bull
Mercedes also showed that it was back in the hunt after fitting their new front wing to both cars, with George Russell earning pole after he set exactly the same lap time as Verstappen in qualifying.
Norris was close to taking victory after a downpour affected the Canadian Grand Prix, enabling him to overtake Verstappen for the lead in the opening stages. A mid-race Safety Car forced him to pit a lap later than those behind him after his blistering pace caused him to miss the pit entry when race control neutralised the race.
Russell showed more of his qualifying pace as the track dried up and overtook Norris for second, but a series of costly mistakes in the tricky conditions allowed the McLaren driver to reclaim the position.
After briefly being demoted to fourth, Russell made late overtaking moves on teammate Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, which ultimately prevented him from catching up to Verstappen for the win.
Writing in his Speedweek column, Marko expects more battles to take place between these teams as they close the gap, in turn helping Red Bull keep its lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
“McLaren was as strong in Canada as on the GP weekends before, Mercedes stronger, Ferrari but weak,” said Marko.
“This up and down is to be explained vehicle- and track-specific, and also with who manages best to bring the tyres into the best working window on the respective weekend and in the very special slope conditions.
“This situation is a great advantage for us that the pursuers are constantly peeling off here. We don’t have one opponent, but three who take each other’s points away. I hope it stays that way.”
Upcoming races to be key to performance
F1 will have the first triple-header of the season as it enters the European rounds next, with races in Barcelona, Austria and Great Britain.
These circuits exhibit different characteristics of each car, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya typically used by teams during testing to shake down their cars pre-season. Silverstone is another circuit that tests a cars strengths in high speed corners, while Austria is all about straight-line speed.
Marko believes this will provide a better competitive picture: “In the three upcoming races of Spain, Austria and England, we will get a more accurate picture of the current status of the various racing cars.
“These are classic slopes, while we have some atypical routes behind us – Miami, Imola, Monaco, Montreal.
“The competition has made up for the ground, no question, but we are not worried. There are further improvements to the car, which are promising in terms of the data.”
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