“We are still not at the….,” Helmut Marko reveals that Red Bull is still considerably heavier than Ferrari

“We are still not at the….,” Helmut Marko reveals that Red Bull is still considerably heavier than Ferrari

Helmut Marko thinks that the postponement of the new technical directive is good, but that 'it's still too early'.

With 13 races still to go in the season, Red Bull are sitting very comfortably on top. They have a 76-point lead over Ferrari, and Max Verstappen is 49 points ahead of Charles Leclerc – who is now third in the standings. This wasn’t always the case, and their massive lead on top is a combination of many factors.

In the first race of the season, Red Bull’s pace was certainly good. But both drivers were struck down my mechanical issues, late on during the race. This happened to Max Verstappen in Australia again, even if after he had won the previous race in Jeddah. Since then, they seem to have gotten on top of most of their reliability issues while Ferrari’s issues have worsened, but a blip on the radar was Sergio Perez’s retirement in Australia.

As such, Helmut Marko has admitted that reliability is still a concern for Red Bull. But there is also another concern: the car is much above the minimum weight limit set. Of course, ideally, it will be on the weight limit as that would make the car faster, but Marko says that there is still work to do in that department.

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RB-18 is still ‘five kilos’ heavier than the F1-75

Ferrari and Red Bull
Carlos Sainz chasing down Max Verstappen in Canada.

Speaking to Motorsport, Helmut Marko said that Red Bull are still a little bit away from the minimum weight limit: “We are still not at the FIA ​​minimum weight either. Ferrari is more or less on that, but we are not yet.”

Presumably, they will be working on this in the future, and along with Mercedes and Ferrari, they are also expected to bring upgrades to Silverstone, but Marko gave no indications on what the upgrades’ nature is. On his expectations for the race, Marko expects a close fight at the front – between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

“The asphalt layer there [in Silverstone] is very slippery. So I think Mercedes will be closer to us at Silverstone than in the previous races. It will depend on the form of the day compared to Ferrari. How we get the tires to work in combination with our own car can make a big difference from one weekend to the next.”

Marko expects Silverstone to be similar to Spain for Mercedes – which is certainly an exciting prospect for the fans of the Silver Arrows, and for the two British drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who will be looking for their first victory of the season at their home race, and after last year’s race, Max Verstappen also has unfinished business in Silverstone.

Also Read: Helmut Marko ascribes Red Bull’s success to Max Verstappen: “He’s unbelievable”

Also Read: Helmut Marko believes Mercedes miss Niki Lauda’s mentality: “He would have done it differently”