Helmut Marko Confirms Red Bull Is Ready to “Strike Back” With Planned Touch up for Silverstone

Helmut Marko has been discussing the increasing competition Red Bull is facing this season. The Austrian had already conceded how McLaren is their biggest threat now and also praised Mercedes’ rise in recent races. However, Marko also highlighted Red Bull’s plans to counter these teams’ progress at the British GP by bringing upgrades.

Speaking with OE24, the 81-year-old said, “We’ll hit back, we’ll bring an upgrade. I also always say: Our goal is the world championship title, and the Austrian GP helped us to achieve that.”

Now, the Milton Keynes outfit is bringing upgrades to mitigate their performance loss to McLaren. The RB20 is arguably not the fastest car anymore since the Woking outfit has taken good steps with their car. Lando Norris in the MCL38 has been regularly hassling Max Verstappen for the race win since taking his maiden victory in Miami.

Besides, even Mercedes are mounting a good recovery in terms of their performance. Having started with several issues in their brand new W15 concept, the Brackley outfit have ironed out some of those issues thanks to their upgrades in Monaco and Canada.

Thus, it is important for Red Bull to not lose too much ground in the development race. In Imola, Canada, and Spain, Norris was within touching distance of taking the win from Verstappen with a gap of less than four seconds. Meanwhile, Austria saw their first on-track collision in the heat of the battle for the win, leading to punctures for both.

As a result, Red Bull would want to try and distance themselves from McLaren with their Silverstone upgrades. However, even the Woking outfit would have something up their sleeve, now that they know their prowess of challenging for victory.

Verstappen and Red Bull could face a tough British GP after Austrian GP collision with Norris

The Austrian GP collision of Norris and Verstappen serves as a bitter prelude for the British GP. Verstappen knows that Norris is not going to give him an inch, now that he has a car capable of winning.

After their coming together in Spielberg, both drivers were candid about their feelings. The McLaren driver stated how he would lose a bit of “respect” towards Verstappen if the Dutchman felt he hadn’t done anything wrong. Meanwhile, Verstappen took a diplomatic stance by mentioning he would like to look at the footage to understand how and why they collided.

Now, it is quite certain that McLaren would be the closest to challenge the three-time champion on track. However, Verstappen may also have to face some off-track hostility from the British crowd in Silverstone.

The British fans are known to be hostile towards non-British drivers and the Dutchman’s collision with Norris could fuel a similar reception for him next weekend. While Verstappen is not alien to hostile fan receptions, this British GP may be a big test for his friendly bond with Norris.