“Difficult times are ahead of us”: Red Bull chief admits that the team will be struggling ahead in the 2022 season

Helmut Marko believes that reliability and weight issues will impact the team’s cost cap derailing RB 18’s further performance upgrades.

According to Red Bull mentor Helmut Marko, it is going to be a tough time for the team to identify and correct their early-season troubles.

Red Bull engineers instructed Max Verstappen to stop the car and retire from the race. The Dutch driver had to retire with just 20 laps remaining due to a suspected fuel system issue.

Moreover, this was Verstappen’s second DNF this season. Previously, he retired at the Bahrain Grand Prix due to a similar fuel issue.

Fuel Leak is a major concern

Helmut Marko discussed the reliability problem with the media addressing that it was not a repeat of the retirement in Bahrain.

“It leaked petrol, but we don’t know where and how,” Marko informed the media.

Also Read: Max Verstappen is not thinking about defending his championship title at the moment

He further added: “It just leaked a lot of petrol. That’s why we said he should stop immediately. Preferably where there is a fire extinguisher.”

The Austrian also appreciated Ferrari’s sighting that ‘they were class of its own.’

🗣 “We’re already miles behind.”

Max Verstappen was dejected after a second DNF of the season. pic.twitter.com/v2jGwr7eGY

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 10, 2022

Weight and Reliability issues

The weight of the RB18 has been a major stumbling block for Red Bull, as they have had to solve more reliability problems. According to the sources, the car’s weight is above the weight limit of 798kgs.

Nevertheless, Red Bull has a planned strategy of bringing out updates to decrease the car’s weight. However, spending on this could lead to changes in their budgets.

Also Read: Charles Leclerc looks back on a dominant performance at the 2022 Australian GP

Marko stated: “The other thing is this weight problem. We’re well ahead of Ferrari there. That’s a difficult balancing act, even with the cost cap.”

He acknowledged that there are significant reliability problems that the team is not aware of. In conclusion, he said: “Difficult times are ahead of us. We were surprised at how fast Ferrari was today.”

Gutted. Very frustrating to end another race like this as we were looking at an easy P2 😤

Congrats to @SChecoPerez on scoring another podium. 💪

We have to work hard the coming days to get on top of things and improve for Imola. pic.twitter.com/6hEUlkvwZK

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 10, 2022