Helmut Marko embraces Red Bull for ‘very difficult’ Brazilian GP after Max Verstappen’s controversial outing in Mexico
Helmut Marko does not hold great expectations from the next weekend in Brazil for Red Bull, amidst Max Verstappen's ongoing title fight.
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Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)
The Mexican GP was a race to forget for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was hit with multiple penalties and limped home to finish in P6 while conceding ground in the driver’s championship. His underwhelming result led fans to anticipate a better weekend in Brazil, but Red Bull‘s Helmut Marko advised to not have high hopes from the next race weekend as the RB20 is understood to not be in its working window around Interlagos.
Max Verstappen started the 71-lap race in Mexico on the front row and led the initial stages. However, his race spiraled downwards as he got into a close battle with Lando Norris, which ended with him getting two hefty penalties. Though he lost 10 points to the Briton in the championship fight, his lead still stands at 47 points.
Despite this, the Dutchman would want to add some more distance between him and Norris. Subsequently, the next race in Brazil looked to be the prime prospect where the 27-year-old could have achieved his goal owing to his past success, but Helmut Marko suggested otherwise.
It will certainly be very difficult, because the circuit in Brazil has very slow corners and that will also be a real problem for us. But Qatar is also coming up, and I think we still have a chance of a victory there.
Helmut Marko said via Sky Sports Deutschland
Thus, with the fading pace of the RB20, Red Bull would need to resolve the issues in the break after Brazil. The final three races of the 2024 F1 season are again a triple-header, which would not give any time for the engineers at Milton Keynes to develop a solution for the woeful 2024 challenger.
Yuki Tsunoda on the radar of Helmut Marko after a subpar run of performances
While Verstappen’s race lasted the whole 71 laps, RB driver Yuki Tsunoda did not even last a single corner. The Japanese driver started the race from outside the top 10 but aimed to make inroads during the race. However, his outing was cut short after he ended up crashing with the Williams of Alex Albon.
Moreover, his last race in Austin was lackluster as he spun mid-way through the event, ending any hopes of scoring points. With two incidents in two weekends, Helmut Marko was not content with the Japanese driver’s position on the grid.
He spun in Austin, and now in qualifying he had this crash. We thought he had stabilised. But now, when the pressure comes from Lawson, it’s starting to make itself felt.
Helmut Marko via Sky Germany
With a streak of subpar performances, the 24-year-old’s chances of amassing the 2025 Red Bull seat seem very grim. This would aid Liam Lawson‘s case as the Kiwi driver has been making strides within the F1 paddock.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(741 Articles Published)