“It looks like Mercedes are much quicker”– Helmut Marko thinks Red Bull’s rivals have a crucial advantage

Helmut Marko believes Mercedes possess a crucial advantage when it comes to setting up a car, which may reflect in the title fight.

Red Bull and Mercedes are fighting an intense battle on both fronts, with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit desperate to dethrone the reigning champions.

However, Helmut Marko thinks that Mercedes has a crucial advantage over his team regarding engineering. He believes in that department Mercedes are too quick.

“It looks like Mercedes are much quicker to get their car to the right set-up,” Marko told Autosport. “We have a more complex car, and on average, it takes us longer to do it, but still, there are only two drivers who always get the maximum out of it. That’s Hamilton at Mercedes and Max with us.

The same points were talked about by Michael Schmidt in his column with auto moto und sport before the US GP. He opined that Red Bull lags behind Mercedes when it comes to factory operations.

At that time, he was talking about the car balance with which Red Bull was struggling. However, with the return of Adrian Newey, their car looks optimized.

Also read: Former three-time world champion believes that Lewis Hamilton has upper hand

Helmut Marko is glad deputy driver has upscaled

In this tense fight, Marko is glad that Sergio Perez is racking up numbers. His last performance helped Mercedes to close the deficit against Mercedes in the constructors by 13 points.

“The number two drivers, Perez, thank God, is on the up, but also Bottas – he did a sensational race in Turkey and more than average in Austin.

“But in the end, these two exceptional drivers keep this duel going, no matter if it’s the Mercedes car or the Red Bull that is faster. Overall, it’s the driver who makes the difference. And those drivers are so strong that Verstappen can also beat a faster Mercedes on hard tyres.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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