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Marko about Mercedes: "It surprised both Honda and us"
- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko calls the level that Mercedes will be able to achieve in 2020 'admirable'. Red Bull Racing and Honda said they didn't see this coming, but the formation from Milton Keynes remains combative. However, the RB16 is a bit harder to drive than the RB15, Marko admits.
"With 20 to 22 degrees outside temperature Mercedes could go full power", Marko starts telling Motorsport-Magazin.com. The 77-year old man from Graz states that Mercedes has had an exceptionally good winter break. "The improvement in performance from last year is remarkable. It is admirable what they have done. It surprised both Honda and us."
In the curves the RB16 is fairly similar to Mercedes' 2020 car, but on the straight the car of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon isn't competitive yet. "We are with them in the corners. In some of them we're faster, in some we're equally fast and in some we're a bit lacking. On the straight we lost four tenths in the race."
In the interview Marko once again hints that Honda should dare to take more risks, but the Austrian is also self-critical. "The set-up of our car is more difficult and the car is harder to drive", he compares the RB16 to last season's RB15. But at Red Bull they don't want to throw in the towel after two Grands Prix. "We have the potential, we are a big team with very good people. There are still more than enough races."