Marko acknowledges McLaren superiority: 'Can't keep up with them'
F1 News
Max Verstappen forced Lando Norris into a mistake in Melbourne, but it wasn't a race defining one, much to the disappointment of Helmut Marko. However, the Red Bull chief advisor has some good news for the Austrian team's and Max Verstappen fans alike: according to him, Red Bull Racing knows exactly where things are currently going wrong with this year's RB21 and is working hard to find a solution.
"We knew from the test in Bahrain that McLaren is a lot faster than us," Marko acknowledged to Viaplay in Melbourne after the race. "I would say we have reduced this advantage of half a second to two to three tenths. We cannot keep up with them for six to eight laps because our tyre degradation comes earlier [than theirs]. That is the biggest problem we have to work on," he admitted.
He stressed that events in the race allowed Verstappen to get involved in the fight, and was even the faster driver in the last six laps, "He tried to go on longer and push him [Lando Norris, ed.] so much that he would make the mistake, which didn't happen. But I think it's a very good result for us, and it will be a difficult season."
Red Bull will solve the car's issues soon
Marko highlighted the RB21's tyre degradation as the main issue, which is more sensitive in dry races, but is hopeful it can be solved shortly. "That is the main problem, among a number of other problems. But we know what these are and we are working hard on them. I think in three to five races hopefully we can solve it so that we are on the same level as McLaren in terms of the car," concludes the 81-year-old.
This article was written in collaboration with Kimberley Hoefnagel.
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