Red Bull and McLaren are ‘worlds’ apart with ‘decisive’ race now identified

Helmut Marko believes the upcoming United States Grand Prix will give Red Bull a clearer picture of its chances of winning a title this year.

Max Verstappen heads into the final six Grands Prix of the year with a 52-point lead over Lando Norris, while Red Bull trails McLaren by 41 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Helmut Marko: Second in Singapore was like victory

While Verstappen’s lead would appear unassailable by the standards of recent years, the momentum has been firmly with McLaren and Lando Norris over the past few months. Red Bull’s development path with the RB20 sent the reigning World Champions in the wrong direction, and the steps taken to address the handling issues have come at the cost of outright competitiveness.

But, while McLaren has overtaken Red Bull with two high-performing drivers exploiting the potential of the MCL38, Verstappen’s lead remains significant enough to still be a tough challenge for Norris to overcome – even with more regular victories.

Singapore was expected to be a very difficult race for Red Bull after their nightmare outing last year, but Verstappen was bested only by Norris on the streets of the Marina Bay Circuit. While Norris easily had the measure of Verstappen in terms of pace, the Dutch driver was able to secure second place to minimise the damage in the standings.

After difficult outings in Italy and Azerbaijan, his performance was somewhat steadying and vindicated the recent floor tweaks made to the RB20 in a bid to unlock more of the car’s performance.

‘It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough,’ Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told the Formula1.de YouTube channel.

With Norris having scampered off up the road and drivers behind showing threatening pace relative to Verstappen, Marko elaborated to reveal his happiness at Verstappen claiming the runner-up spot.

“If Norris takes nine-tenths to one second off us per lap, then that’s worlds,’ Marko said.

“And you mustn’t forget: In the second stint, [Charles] Leclerc was also just as fast as Lando. So for us, second place was, I would almost say, like a victory and we are delighted that it was only seven points that Lando [made up].”

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At this point of the season, attention firmly turns towards the mathematics of the situation – should Verstappen be able to finish second in every race (all six Grands Prix and the three Sprint races), then he is World Champion – even Norris winning every race with fastest lap won’t be enough.

While the races are unlikely to unfold in such a straightforward fashion, Verstappen’s task is to slow the rate at which Norris is closing. Regardless, second-place finishes are not how Red Bull wants to win either title – particularly if the team produces races like its nightmare Italian Grand Prix weekend.

“Relying only on finishing second is far too little,” Marko said. “Monza was more than a wake-up call.

“I can’t remember when we’ve been so wrong in terms of strategy, pit stops, speed, everything. The car needs to be given a wider working window – not that the performance will change with relatively small changes.

“Or when temperature differences of six or seven degrees also cause the performance to tilt. You also need more speed and more range so that Max can attack. We know that he needs a car that ‘bites’ at the front, as they say.”

Red Bull responded to the Monza shock by showing up in Baku with a revised floor, which appeared to work as Sergio Perez fought for victory throughout – Verstappen was unable to join the fight after making a setup error ahead of qualifying.

Having got through the more anachronistic race tracks such as Monza, Baku, and Singapore, the next race – at the Circuit of the Americas – will take place on a track more representative of the average demands for most of the remaining circuits.

It’s for this reason that seeing how the recent tweaks to the car respond at COTA will give the team a clearer picture of what needs to be done to try to ensure at least one title is going to Milton Keynes this year.

“We worked very, very hard and gained certain insights. It wasn’t a completely new underfloor, but it was new in parts,” Marko explained.

“But I think the decisive factor will be the performance in Austin and there will be a lot more to come.”

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