“If Mercedes don’t do it themselves, they use a team like Aston Martin to do it”– Helmut Marko

“If Mercedes don’t do it themselves, they use a team like Aston Martin to do it”– Helmut Marko alleges Mercedes using pawns to push agenda.

Red Bull has a significant advantage over Mercedes this year, and that is reflecting in this year’s championship. With the timing of new proposals of regulations like adding time to pit-stops to rear-wings tests, Red Bull alleges Mercedes is trying to slow them down.

And now Helmut Marko is now accusing Mercedes of using their “pawns” if they are unable to push their agendas against the Milton-Keynes-based team.

“They do funny things, to remain polite,” Marko told De Telegraaf. “They complain about our rear wing, about our pit stops, and about anything and everything.

“If Mercedes don’t do it themselves, they use a team like Aston Martin to do it. We focus on the racing and try to make sure nothing stops us,” he added.

“Mercedes are now missing their 50bhp advantage that they had for seven years but the fastest car on the straight was now the McLaren, with a Mercedes engine. They are not used to this situation at Mercedes.

“We have learned from our mistakes. Mercedes made such a step last year with the engine, but Honda has responded this year. In terms of power sources, we are more or less equal. Also, the car itself is now competitive from day one.”

Don’t expect to win everywhere

While Marko is delighted with Red Bull’s recent results, he is still cautious of celebrating things so early and keeps a firm belief that Red Bull can’t win everywhere this year.

“This was a great win by Max. He is flying this year, in fact, we easily controlled the race. Next weekend we race here again and the only thing different then is the tyres.

“They will be a bit softer than now. And that should help us even more. Today we had much less tyre degradation than both Mercedes drivers.

“It is clear that we have a chassis and engine package that can challenge Mercedes. There will be circuits where they will be strong, but next week we should be in the same position. With a bit of luck, we’ll go into the next race at Silverstone with a 25-point lead.”

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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