Helmut Marko's Brutally Honest Dutch GP Admission Works In Favor Of McLaren

Saajan Jogia | Aug 9, 2024

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko / Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has been brutally honest about his team's title contender, the RB20 F1 car, admitting that it has remained out of "balance" since the Belgian Grand Prix. The issue has persisted due to restrictions that prevent any modifications or work on the car during the summer break, making it less competitive for the upcoming race at Zandvoort against close rival McLaren.

In stark contrast to last season, where Red Bull dominated with 21 victories out of 22 Grands Prix, this year has presented far greater challenges. The team now faces fierce competition from McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari, all of whom have made significant strides in enhancing the pace of their cars, closing the gap to Red Bull.

While Max Verstappen won four of the first five races this season, several of the subsequent nine races were won by rival teams, thereby indicating that competition was finally getting tighter in the ground effect era.

The resurgence of McLaren and Mercedes has been the strongest, while Red Bull's upgrades in Hungary saw Verstappen struggle with understeer challenges, apart from dealing with an unsatisfying team strategy coupled with frustration that was evidently audible on the team radio during the race.

The race at Spa-Francorchamps, traditionally a stronghold for Red Bull, also proved to be a tough one for Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez. It is worth noting that the Dutchman started way back in the eleventh position due to a grid penalty for using a brand-new engine.

It was evident that the RB20 needed work, maybe in the form of a different setup or upgrades that worked on Sundays. However, with the sport heading into the summer break after the Belgian Grand Prix, there remained no room for the Milton Keynes outfit to work on its car.

Marko fears that when the team is allowed to restart operations after two weeks, it might not have enough time to make drastic changes that would convert to on-track performance for Circuit Zandvoort. Making a brutally honest admission in his column on Speedweek.com, the senior advisor wrote:

"During the summer break, nothing happens for a fortnight, which means no work on the car. We have to solve our problems and find out where the fault lies, because we no longer have a balance in the car if you compare the current situation with the first three races.

"But it is difficult to estimate how soon that will happen. I don't think the big solution will come at Zandvoort. We are brainstorming intensively and also have several ideas, but I cannot yet say what we will implement and how.

"One thing is clear: Qualifying will be crucial at Zandvoort, because overtaking is hardly possible there. And Max could well drive a good qualifying, as he was good in that recently too. We were fastest in Austria and also at Spa. In Hungary we were only a few hundredths off."