Red Bull facing ‘alien’ situation in battle with McLaren – Marko

Helmut Marko fears that Red Bull and Max Verstappen may have entered “a whole new world” as they battle McLaren in the world championship, with team and driver struggling to come to terms with team papaya’s domination.

The shift became strikingly evident at the Singapore Grand Prix, where McLaren’s Lando Norris secured pole position, outqualifying Verstappen by two-tenths and later winning the race with a commanding 21-second lead over the Dutchman.

At one point, the gap between Norris and Verstappen had ballooned to as much as 29 seconds. This marked an alarming persistence of Red Bull’s relative underperformance, with the team failing to secure a win for the eighth consecutive race at Marina Bay.

Verstappen, who won five of the first seven races at the beginning of the season, has only managed one pole position and three podium finishes since last June’s Spanish GP, while McLaren has secured four wins, four pole positions, and eleven top-three finishes.

Bewildered by McLaren’s level of performance, Marko revealed that he and Verstappen had “a long conversation” last week about Red Bull’s struggles relative to its main rival.

Speaking to German website Formel1.de, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor shed light on Verstappen’s reaction to his team’s current plight.

“Well, that Lando's dominance is alien, especially on medium tyres – he took nine tenths to one second per lap from us,” Marko explained.

“Even if our car had been, let's say, optimised, he couldn't have driven those times on the medium. And we're all wondering how he did it.”

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“When Norris takes nine tenths to one second per lap from us, then it's a whole new world. And don't forget, in the second stint, [Charles] Leclerc was just as fast as Lando or almost a bit faster.

“So for us, I would almost say that second place was like a victory,” the Austrian said, underlining how unusual the situation is for the team.

McLaren’s rise has been built on a well-executed development programme that kicked off in earnest in Miami in April with the introduction of a new floor and comprehensive packages thereafter, none of which have compromised the MCL38’s superior balance.

Red Bull also introduced a new floor on its RB20 ahead of the Azerbaijan GP event – a subtle change that Marko described as “a step in the right direction” although it wasn’t enough to worry McLaren.

“They have worked very, very hard and have gained certain insights,” he added. “It wasn't a completely new floor, but parts of it were new. But I think the deciding factor will be performance in Austin, and there are a lot of other things coming.”

Last month’s Italian GP at Monza, where Verstappen finished 38 seconds behind race winner Charles Leclerc, was described as a “low point” for Red Bull by team boss Christian Horner.

Marko confirmed that the race had been an unmitigated disaster in terms of relative performance and execution.

“It was the worst race since... I don't know, I can't remember when we got it so wrong in terms of strategy, pitstop, speed, everything,” he said.

“But we are now on the right track. The car needs to have a wider operating window – not one where relatively small changes, or temperature differences of six or seven degrees, can affect performance.

“And then more speed and also more bandwidth so that Max can attack. We know that he needs a car with front-end bite. Because just relying on coming in second is not good enough.”

Indeed, just coming in second in the final six races of the season would ensure a fourth title for Verstappen. But Red Bull’s battle in the Constructors’ standings has become increasingly difficult.

The bulls are now 41 points behind McLaren and have scored 119 fewer points in the last six races, with teammate Sergio Perez’s lack of form contributing significantly to the deficit and adding further pressure to Red Bull’s title defense.

Marko admitted that the team’s prospects are bleak.

"With the performance we currently have, [the constructors' title] is likely over,” he admitted.

“But I'm optimistic that if Max wins races again and Sergio can then achieve third or fourth place, then things will look different again. But the focus is primarily on the drivers' title for now.

“But if we achieve that – and I believe that's only possible if Max wins at least two more races – then it will also look a bit more promising in the constructors' championship.”

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