Helmut Marko takes a dig at Sergio Perez as he addresses Nico Hulkenberg to Red Bull rumors

Hulkenberg was spotted in the Red Bull camp during Belgian GP, sparking rumors of him making a move away from Haas.

Helmut Marko takes a dig at Sergio Perez as he addresses Nico Hulkenberg to Red Bull rumors

Helmut Marko (Credits: Autosport), Sergio Perez (Credits: The Jakarta Post) and Nico Hulkenberg (Credits: Road & Track)

While Sergio Perez has regained his form in the last two races, the Mexican was under a lot of duress for the better part of the season for constant poor results. Perez’s lackluster form was most evident in qualifying races, where he couldn’t qualify for Q3 for five straight races. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently took a dig on Perez when asked about Nico Hulkenberg’s potential transfer to Red Bull.

While Marko claimed he is happy with Perez’s race pace, he joked that Red Bull would hire Hulkenberg for just qualifying and Perez for the main races. Marko said that competing with a teammate like Max Verstappen is the toughest thing for a driver and that he is happy with Perez’s progress.

“Let’s put this rumor in the following way. We will sign Hülkenberg to qualify with us and then Pérez will get in the car and run the race. Pérez has been in a moment of crisis, but he has turned it around in the last two races… Verstappen is unbeatable at the moment,“ Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

In case you missed it: Nico Hulkenberg breaks silence on his ‘frustrating’ no-podium F1 record

Red Bull think the dominant RB-19 is just ‘average good’

Red Bull's RB-19
Red Bull’s RB-19 (Credits: PlanetF1)

Red Bull’s RB-19 is currently the most feared car on the grid. Powered by a 1080 hp engine, no other car on the grid comes close to it. Be it straight pace or corners, the RB-19 is dominating everywhere. But Red Bull’s perception of the car is very different as their technical director Pierre Wache reveals that they believe the car to be ‘average good’.

Wache said that the car does not excel in one particular aspect but is overall very well built. He believes the team did not do a ‘fantastic’ job but just a ‘good’ one. He says that he is more surprised at the current condition of Red Bull’s rivals, saying that the development of a car doesn’t take two years.

“It is average good for everything… I would say we didn’t do a fantastic job. We did a good job. I was more surprised by others, who didn’t do as good a job I would say. That is why our expectations were different from the beginning of the year,” said Wache.

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