Marko expects three-way battle: 'Hamilton nine points behind Verstappen'

Helmut Marko, despite Mercedes' struggles, is still reckoning with the eight-time constructors' champion. The Red Bull advisor expects the team to still get involved in the fight at the front, so we will see a three-way battle in 2022.

After the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Marko let it be known that he was happy with the fight against Ferrari, which he believes is more exciting than the fight with Mercedes. Mercedes' W13 still seems to have a lot of problems at the moment, so for now Ferrari and Red Bull Racing do not have to fear for the team.

Mercedes is still mainly struggling with the porpoising problem, and also the rear wing is said to cause a speed deficit on the straights. In Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton managed to finish third, but in Saudi Arabia he had to make do with just a tenth place. Still, the points difference towards Max Verstappen is not very big, but the Dutchman crashed out in Bahrain due to a technical problem.

Despite Mercedes' backlog, Marko expects the team to get involved in the title fight later in the season. "Hamilton is only nine points behind Verstappen. They are not writing off the world championship yet. They are definitely coming. It will probably turn into a three-way battle then," he says on ServusTV.