Helmut Marko admits Red Bull ‘could only dream’ of having McLaren’s stellar pace at Dutch GP

Lando Norris' last lap at the Dutch GP surprised Helmut Marko as McLaren's pace advantage became evident to Red Bull.

Helmut Marko admits Red Bull ‘could only dream’ of having McLaren’s stellar pace at Dutch GP

Helmut Marko and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris’s nearly 23-second gap win over Max Verstappen in Zandvoort demonstrated how quick McLaren was compared to Red Bull. Dr. Helmut Marko confessed that it was clearly impossible for Red Bull to match this level of speed at the Dutch GP due to the issues they faced.

Recently in an interview Dr. Helmut Marko addressed McLaren’s speed at the Dutch GP. He noted McLaren’s superior speed, demonstrated by setting the fastest lap time around 1 minute and 13 seconds. What made it even more impressive was that it was achieved without using the DRS on their final lap. This demonstrated the car’s impressive capabilities, particularly its strength and speed.

Overall, McLaren's clear superiority was underlined by the fastest lap in the 1:13s, without DRS on the very last lap.
Helmut Marko told on ServusTV
YouTube video

Highlighting on McLaren’s impressive lap timings, Marko admitted that Red Bull currently can only dream for such lap times. He acknowledged that Red Bull still has a lot of work to do to catch up their speed. However, he also mentioned that they have a good idea of where their problems are and what needs to be fixed to improve their performance.

FS Video
We can only dream of such a time. So we still have a lot of work to do. We know roughly where the problems lie.
Helmut Marko adeded.
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Helmut Marko insists finishing in second place won’t be sufficient to secure 2024 title.

Helmut Marko explained that the conditions at Zandvoort were perfect for McLaren, allowing them to perform exceptionally well. Red Bull, on the other hand, struggled and couldn’t get up to speed at Max Verstappen’s home turf. However, he pointed out that not all tracks will have conditions that favor McLaren, so there’s still a chance for Red Bull to improve. Marko stressed that their engineers need to find solutions because finishing in second place consistently isn’t enough to win the championship.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)
The conditions here were ideal for McLaren and we just couldn't get going, But not all circuits are like that. Our engineers have to come up with something, that's for sure. To finish second nine times, that's not enough.
Helmut Marko told Sky Germany

Therefore, Helmut Marko believed Red Bull must perform better and win more races to stay competitive in the championship fight. They can’t rely on finishing in second place to compete for titles. Fans hope Red Bull will make the necessary adjustments to the RB20 to ensure it runs smoothly on upcoming tracks.

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