Red Bull sees renewed F1 confidence as Mercedes impress and McLaren falter in Canada, boosting hopes for Austria Grand Prix success.
Dr. Helmut Marko left Canada with a feeling of “great satisfaction.”
Initially pessimistic heading into the Montreal round, the Red Bull advisor watched McLaren endure a difficult weekend, while Mercedes’ George Russell took the lead.
Though delighted with his pole-to-win performance, Russell admitted he doesn’t feel in contention for the drivers’ title unless McLaren continues making mistakes.
Indeed, while Oscar Piastri maximized his result with a fourth-place finish, his teammate Lando Norris made glaring errors, not just in qualifying but also during the race.
“I think both of us have been very consistent and made the most of our setups week after week,” Russell said, referring to Max Verstappen.
“But I can’t imagine them (McLaren) continuing to drop points like this.”
The headline after the race was, of course, Norris’ crash into the back of the sister McLaren. Verstappen shares Russell’s view: titles aren’t won by capitalizing on rivals’ mistakes.
“We need to win races more often,” the four-time world champion stated. “And how do we do that? By being more competitive.”
Marko nonetheless allowed himself a moment of optimism.
“First of all, it was a great race and Mercedes surprised everyone. They were also very fast in the race and had no tire issues, at least not as expected. McLaren failed to convince. That was a big surprise for us too. Max pushed too hard at the start when trying to overtake Russell.”
“In the third stint, he was competitive again. Then things went smoothly. But again, Mercedes was very strong and tire degradation was the same as everyone else’s.”
“In the end, we are very satisfied. We were on par with Mercedes and McLaren. That gives us a boost for the next races.”
While team principal Christian Horner admits McLaren “should be up front at the next race in Austria,” Marko allows for a glimmer of hope.
“We saw that McLaren was fast, but they failed to overtake and therefore couldn’t dominate. That’s encouraging for the upcoming races.”
“That gives us hope. The Red Bull Ring is a different track with a different layout, but we’ve seen that McLaren can be beaten—provided we do things right.”