Helmut Marko highlights Red Bull’s adaptability and potential dominance in Jeddah, building on their impressive start in Bahrain.
It’s somewhat challenging for Red Bull Racing to focus on “competition” at the moment, with off-track news currently overshadowing their strong start to the 2024 season. Nonetheless, Dr. Helmut Marko emphasized his satisfaction with the performances of both his drivers in Bahrain.
“Max Verstappen couldn’t have begun the season any better. He was slightly frustrated with the settings during the first two days, but his final setup was perfect for the race.”
“He masterfully managed his soft tires during the 1st and 3rd stints, confirming that the RB20 continues the positive trend of the RB19 in tire preservation.”
“In qualifying, the pace is there, but we’ve seen that over a single lap, Ferrari and Mercedes are close. It won’t be easy to secure many pole positions, but what matters is Sunday.”
As for Sergio Perez, if he continues to finish second behind Max Verstappen this year, his spot on the Red Bull team could be secured for 2025.
“Checo had a very good race. It took him some time to overtake Mercedes and Ferrari, but after that, he optimized his race.”
“Trying to be faster than Max ahead would have been pointless. Second place behind Max was the best he could achieve.”
However, the real gap in time and pace with Verstappen was significant.
“For Max to set the fastest race lap with the same car and tires as Perez, and be two seconds quicker, was a first-rate show of strength,” Marko acknowledges.
“But having Verstappen as a teammate, not being utterly outpaced by him is already a great achievement. Without Max there, it would have been an interesting race.”
Can Red Bull dominate the season as much as in 2023? Marko has his doubts.
“That would be nice, but as we saw, we didn’t manage it last year. We’re far from it, and our main goal remains winning both championships. We’re taking it step by step.”
“Jeddah is a completely different circuit with very fast turns. If we’re as dominant there as in Bahrain, then we can be optimistic about the future.”
“One team is slightly better in qualifying, the other slightly better in the race. One is better on soft tires, the other on hard tires. So, it remains very close, even more than last year,” concludes Marko.
Red Bull Djeddah Optimism F1 2024. Red Bull Djeddah Optimism F1 2024
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