Helmut Marko: TD postponement a ‘small win’ for Red Bull

Helmut Marko: TD postponement a ‘small win’ for Red Bull

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

Following numerous drivers’ complaints, like George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, and Pierre Gasly, the FIA rolled out a technical directive intended to limit the vertical oscillations the car can go through. This was done just preceding the Canadian Grand Prix, and suffice to say, not everyone was happy.

Ferrari and Red Bull had made their displeasure clear. Mattia Binotto had said that ‘You cannot change the regulations with a Technical Directive.’ while Charles Leclerc felt that due to the technical directive, all of Ferrari’s work to minimize the effect of porpoising came undone, and was ‘in the bin’.

Red Bull were also open with their displeasure, as both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko implied that the technical directive favoured one team in particular: Mercedes. Helmut Marko even said that he felt Mercedes had ‘inside information’ about the technical directive, as they seemed to be the only team ready to implement the suggestions of the directive.

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Helmut Marko: TD implementation is still too early

Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko
Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko

The technical directive intended to control ‘porpoising’ ‘bouncing’ or simply, the vertical oscillations has been pushed from the originally scheduled French Grand Prix to the Belgian Grand Prix, which will take place after the Summer Break, on August 28th. That gives the team around 50 days to work on the necessary updates.

While Helmut Marko thought that the technical directive was a ‘good step’ and a small win for Red Bull, who have barely suffered from porpoising, as reported by Laola1, he isn’t completely pleased. He said: “It is still too early.”

The implementation of the porpoising directive was pushed back in conjunction with an increase in the budget cap. The top teams had threatened to breach the budget cap all year, with Christian Horner even saying they may miss the races. As such, to account for inflation, the budget cap was increased by 3.1 percent.

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