Max Verstappen last won an F1 race in June, after which Red Bull’s once-dominant form began to falter. Ferrari, Mercedes, and particularly McLaren rose to the challenge, with Lando Norris securing three victories, putting himself in contention for the World Championship. Amidst this, Helmut Marko commented on Norris’ recent performances.
After Norris’ win at the Singapore GP, he reduced the gap to Championship leader Max Verstappen to 52 points. Marko, surprised by Norris’ pace, stated that the best Verstappen could have hoped for that day was P2, which he achieved.
According to Motorsport, Marko said, “Well, that Lando’s dominance is alien, especially on medium tires – he took nine-tenths to one second per lap from us. Even if our car had been, let’s say, optimized, he couldn’t have driven those times on the medium. And we’re all wondering how he did it.”
McLaren’s one-second-a-lap dominance is “alien” to Verstappen – Marko https://t.co/VcHSgIO90D
— Front Row Racing (@row_racing) October 3, 2024
Marko explained that while Red Bull had made progress in Singapore, it wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, McLaren, after announcing tweaks to their cars, appeared even more dominant. In the Constructors’ Championship, the Woking-based team has already built a 41-point lead and are now the favorites to win the title.
Red Bull, however, is doing everything possible to turn things around and support Verstappen in his title defense.
Red Bull to test new floor in Austin
Red Bull has identified the issue with the RB20. The Milton Keynes-based team traced the problem back to a floor upgrade introduced in Spain. Although Sergio Perez had repeatedly raised concerns, the team overlooked them due to Verstappen’s strong performance at the time.
Now that Verstappen is also struggling, Red Bull has realized the need for changes. They introduced an updated floor in Singapore, but it didn’t deliver the desired results. The team is now going back to the drawing board to bring something new for Austin.
“The engineers have worked very, very hard and have gained certain insights,” said Marko. “It wasn’t a completely new floor, but parts of it were new. I think the deciding factor will be how we perform in Austin.”
