Helmut Marko, the team advisor for Red Bull Racing, believes McLaren are a lot closer than Ferrari in terms of pacing up with Mercedes and Red Bull. In spite of the improvements Ferrari made this season, Marko is of the opinion that the British giants have fared far better than the Italians
The 77-year-old Austrian advisor is convinced of the potential the Woking-based team has this season, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris perfectly suited up to fire upfront for the ‘Orange-Blue’ team.
Helmut Marko, the team advisor of Red Bull Racing during a Formula One event (Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Helmut, in an interview with Motorsport-Magazin, expressed his views on the top contenders this season. He conveyed, “The Ferrari engine has improved, but I don’t see them between Mercedes and Red Bull. This is something that we see McLaren doing.”
Stakes are high with McLaren this year, according to Helmut Marko
McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris performed really well at the recently concluded pre-season testing. The Australian was one of the best at Sakhir, topping the morning classification chart of day two testing. Following that, the Briton too claimed the runners up position behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after day one testing.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION
More than 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ laps on the board on day one 💪#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/GB3dG6kd0S
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 12, 2021
Marko, further asserted on McLaren’s recent pre-season performance at Bahrain Circuit, “Of course, we don’t know how many kilograms of fuel were in the car, this is crucial. But they are reliable and, despite the sandstorm and the temperatures, they were always close to the front.”
McLaren F1 drivers Australian Daniel Riccardo and Briton Lando Norris during the launch of McLaren’s new MCL35M for the 2021 season. (Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Adding on, Ferrari made many improvements with their new SF21. The Maranello-based team claims to have fixed their drag and aerodynamics issue from last year. Nonetheless, the improvements seemed a little too less match to McLaren’s MCL35M.
MORNING CLASSIFICATION
Plenty of laps on the board and talking points from our morning session 📊#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/LSIarHNnb9
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2021
The British giants are now considered as top contenders for the Championship alongside hot favourites Red Bull and reigning champions Mercedes. With such closely matched teams, 2021 is surely expected to be a mouth watering season.
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