F1 | Marko: “Alarming gap, both titles are at risk”

The Dutch Grand Prix saw McLaren completely dominate the scene. Although they didn’t manage a one-two, it was clear that their 23-second advantage over Red Bull was a show of strength that couldn’t have come at a better time, providing momentum to start the second half of the season.

Undoubtedly, several elements were included in those 23 seconds, such as the fact that Zandvoort was a track that was very favourable to the characteristics of the MCL38, as well as the fact that Verstappen pulled in a bit towards the end, given that there was nothing to risk given the large gap and the various tyre management problems.

However, 23 seconds weigh, also because they are one of the most important losses of this championship, so much so that they bring to mind the gaps when Red Bull dominated the scene. The trend seen so far is that of a McLaren in great growth, which brought another package of technical innovations to Zandvoort, while Red Bull has struggled to find the way, so much so that at the bottom it has even returned to some solutions from the beginning of the season.

All these elements have led Helmut Marko to explain how in the Milton Keynes team there is now a concrete fear that both titles are at risk: not only the constructors’ one, where round after round McLaren is continuing to suck up points, but also the drivers’ one.

Verstappen returned from the mid-season summer break with a 78-point lead over Norris, while Red Bull was 42 points ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ standings. After Zandvoort, however, the gap narrowed, dropping to 70 points in the drivers’ standings and just 30 points in the constructors’, also due to the difficult period experienced by Sergio Perez. Norris’ victory represents a big alarm bell, not only for the gap, but also for the awareness that, with such a quick McLaren, the risk is that there will be races in which Verstappen could potentially have to settle for third place.

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com after the Dutch GP, Helmut Marko described the outcome of Sunday’s race as alarming: “It’s an alarming result. Especially if you look at Norris’ fastest lap, it was on his last lap without DRS, lapping in 1:13.8,” said the Red Bull consultant.

“So, as Max said before the summer break, the team has to work harder and find improvements because then its championship is at risk.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

When asked to clarify which championship he was referring to, Marko replied: “Both, both, both”, underlining how the fear is not only of losing the constructors’ championship, where McLaren’s climb is increasingly concrete and rapid, but also the drivers’ championship. The Woking team has managed to consistently earn points, despite missing some opportunities, especially because it has managed to score good results with both drivers, while Red Bull has often had to deal with very disappointing peaks for Perez. On the contrary, Norris, between errors and strategic mistakes by the team, has not always managed to bring home the maximum result, keeping the gap from the top wider than it could have been.

Marko also highlighted how Red Bull expected to be able to fight for the win if Max Verstappen had managed to gain the lead, as indeed happened. From the first laps, however, it was clear that the Dutchman did not have the pace to pull away, which then allowed Norris first to close in and, subsequently, to complete the overtaking that took him into the lead until the checkered flag.

“We also believed that if he had won the start, we could have won the race. But the strange thing was that Piastri had almost the same speed as Lando and once he got behind Leclerc, it was over. But when Max was caught by Lando, he passed and went away. So, I don’t know what the difference is and why,” added Marko, noting that, unlike Norris, Piastri was stuck behind both George Russell and Charles Leclerc, despite having an extremely fast pace in free air.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

After McLaren made a major update to its MCL38 which worked very well at the high-downforce Zandvoort track, Marko insisted that Red Bull really needs to start working on improving the car, because what they have brought so far has not worked as hoped.

Red Bull used the summer break to analyze the data from the first part of the championship, with the drivers who highlighted how the innovations did not work as hoped, so much so that in Zandvoort various experiments were seen. The problem, in addition to performance, is the lack of balance, an aspect that both Verstappen and Perez have been complaining about for several Grands Prix now.

“There are many ideas and different ways. But we have to do something. It all goes hand in hand. We have to understand the car better, which has more balance, because with better balance there is more confidence for the driver and less wear on the tyres. But the updates must bring an improvement, not only theoretically, but also in terms of lap time. From a chronometric point of view we have not achieved the same result as shown in the simulations,” Marko said of Red Bull’s plans.