Marko: "We see opportunities for second place"

Duel between Verstappen and Hamilton

It remains up to speculation how the two would perform in the same car and who would come out on top. Both Verstappen and Hamilton excel in various areas, making a direct comparison difficult. However, Helmut Marko thinks he knows who would win that duel.

"I think Max would be better over the entire season," says Marko to Sport1. However, there is no such thing as equivalent material for the moment, so he is mainly looking at what the possibilities are now. "We see opportunities for second place. The difference with Valtteri Bottas is currently 14 points, so it's not impossible," he says.

Confidence in Honda

Marko recognizes that Red Bull Racing has not yet reached the level of Mercedes. Especially at the beginning of the season there were a lot of problems, but even now the car still regularly suffers from reliability issues.

"Max can drive around this," says Marko. "When the car becomes more difficult, the distance between him and Albon increases significantly. We want to optimize the car so we can really go on the attack next season." He is counting on Honda to help.

"They have promised to provide a new power source. This should bring us closer to Mercedes in many areas, including the engine".