Helmut Marko, the advisor of Red Bull Racing believes, Red Bull will soon be at reigning champions Mercedes’s level.
The veteran Austrian believes they’ll not just level themselves up with the Silver Arrows in terms of technological advances, but also looking forward to surpassing them at the upcoming Imola Grand Prix.
Red Bull has started the season with flair had to deal with an unfortunate shock when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton clinched the Bahrain Championship Title over Max Verstappen.
The seven-times world champion Lewis was seven-tenths of a second faster than Max, even though the Milton-Keynes-based team had the fastest car on the track.
Red Bull’s Advisor Helmut Marko talks with driver Max Verstappen prior to Bahrain Grand Prix final race. (Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Max Verstappen had recorded the fastest lap both during pre-season testing as well as the final qualification, only to lose at the hands of Lewis Hamilton and finish at P2.
In an interview with Formel1.de the 77-year-old advisor conveyed, “With the package we have, a very competitive engine and a chassis that responds well to everything, we will be at Mercedes’ level again.
We now know that you can only succeed against Mercedes if you are perfect. Everything has to be right. We assume the situation will be similar at Imola, hopefully the podium will be reversed, with Max on the highest step.” He further added.
All of us waiting to do it all over again in Imola 🇮🇹 #ChargeOn 🤘 #F1 pic.twitter.com/inkZlcgzpD
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) March 31, 2021
Red Bull are eager to turn the table upside down at Imola
Red Bull team management is keen to win the championship at Imola. The Sakhir Circuit still upsets the team and their sentiment and will do everything to make amends at the next Grand Prix.
Marko, regarding this, further asserted, “We assume the situation will be similar at Imola, hopefully the podium will be reversed, with Max on the highest step. I said at the start of the season that it’s the most difficult season for us since we have been in Formula 1. On the one hand, we are obviously affected by the budget cap and on the other we see an opportunity to win the world title.”
Catching up to Mercedes? How’s this possible?
The new Formula One rake rules have hurt the Silver Arrows and their cars. Mercedes use low rakes in their car and this has turned out to be a disadvantage for them.
The disadvantage is that they’re losing almost one second per lap. The W11 and its predecessors were the fastest cars on the track until this year. But things are different with this year’s brand new W12.
Red Bull’s RB16B is chasing Mercedes’s W12 at the recently concluded Bahrain Grand Prix. (Image courtesy: Getty Images)
Red Bull’s RB16B has surpassed Mercedes’ W12 in terms of speed, thanks to their high rakes. However, Helmut believes the team needs to be at their very best in order to beat their toughest rivals, the Silver Arrows.
Red Bull Racing now sits at P2 at driver’s standings, 13 points behind the leaders, Mercedes AMG F1. Advisor Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull will do everything to catch up to Mercedes at Imola.
