Marko: “Will make a significant step forward in Barcelona”
Published on 20 April 2017 by Mike Motilall
Red Bull came into the 2017 season with high hopes of mounting a title challenge, but after three races they’ve managed just one podium finish, with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen struggling to match the pace of their rivals from Ferrari and Mercedes. Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko acknowledges the team have plenty of work to do to catch up.
In an interview with Formula1.com Marko says that they have shown progress in the first three races: “Let me get our pace history straight: in Australia we were 1.8 seconds behind, in China it was 1.3 seconds and in Bahrain something in the range of nine-tenths. So we are improving and step by step closing the gap - but it is, of course, not enough. And looking at qualifying where the cars show their sheer speed, we know that Mercedes has a qualification mode - and to a certain extent also Ferrari - and that helps them a lot. And by constantly closing the gap to them I would say that the direction we are moving in is promising. And as you don’t get any points in qualifying, it is good news that in the race we are usually stronger if problems don’t stop us like on Sunday when Max suffered a brake issue."
During the pre-season testing in Barcelona, prior to the season, it became apparent that Red Bull had fallen short: “Well, at the first test we were pretty optimistic that the three teams were pretty even, but already at the second test we had to swallow the fact that we were behind. So Melbourne and Shanghai were not really the wake-up calls they probably were for outsiders: we knew what the situation was.”
The reasons pertaining to their short comings are very clear: “We have two problems: Renault had some reliability issues, which have slowed them down in the development; and we didn’t deliver the chassis that we should have done. But we are working day and night to pick up our shortcomings. We are pretty optimistic that we will make a significant step forward in Barcelona where a big change of parts is coming. So sometimes patience is the best virtue a driver can have!”
Marko is not afraid that Ferrari and Mercedes will have disappeared by the time they are ready: “When we fought for the championship with Sebastian (Vettel) against Alonso [in 2012] we were 42 points behind still after the summer break - and won! So we are the masters of ‘catch-up’!”
For Red Bull Racing it is hard to be dependent on an engine supplier. Something Marko would very much see changed: “Of course - and not 'one day'. The latest must be 2021 that an independent engine supplier comes into F1. This is more than necessary - and the engine has to be simple, noisy and on the cost side below ten million. We are talking about a much less sophisticated engine to what we have now - a simple racing engine. There are enough companies around that could supply. So we expect from the new owners together with the FIA to find a solution at the latest by the end of this season. If that doesn’t happen our stay in F1 is not secured.”
Still Marko feels that the problems they are facing right now, are also their own fault: “Right now we are fighting for P3 in the championship, and that can’t be our goal! But in terms of the chassis we also have to point at ourselves. We just have to go our own way by constantly reducing the gap.”
