- Helmut Marko says Red Bull’s car has unresolved balance and speed issues
- Marko adds that F1 champion Verstappen MUST have a good qualifying at Zandervoort
- The constructor’s key adviser says this could affect championship chances.
Red Bull’s head of driver development and key adviser Helmut Marko has said he fears the issues surrounding the RB20 will not be resolved before this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
According The mirrorMarko says the problems with the car’s balance and speed have not yet been fully resolved by the manufacturer’s technical and mechanical teams.
He said Red Bull “no longer have balance in the car” and that “the problems are likely to continue” ahead of Formula One’s summer restart at Max Verstappen’s home Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
“During the summer break nothing happens for two weeks, which means no work can be done on the car,” Marko wrote in an editorial for Speedweek.
‘We need to sort out our problems and find out where the problem is, because we no longer have the balance in the car if you compare the current situation with the first three races.
Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko says car still has ‘unresolved’ issues ahead of summer restart
Marko (right) says car issues are affecting Max Verstappen’s (centre) championship defence
“But it is difficult to estimate how quickly this will happen. I do not think that the big solution will come in Zandvoort.
“We are brainstorming and have several ideas, but I cannot yet say what we will implement or how.”
This will be worrying news for Verstappen as he looks to revive the faltering defence of his drivers’ championship.
Between Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, the pair have only managed to finish on the podium once in the last four Grands Prix, without winning a single race.
And while the 26-year-old Dutchman still leads the drivers’ championship standings on 277 points (McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sit second and third on 199 and 177 points respectively), failure to score points in the coming races could spell disaster for the team’s bid to win a third consecutive constructors’ championship.
Marko stressed that the car can still take Red Bull to both championships, but the Dutch Grand Prix could prove a defining moment of its season.
“One thing is clear: qualifying at Zandvoort will be crucial, because overtaking there is almost impossible,” wrote Marko. “And Max could achieve a good qualifying, because he has been doing well there lately.”
“We were the fastest in Austria and also in Spa. In Hungary we were just a few hundredths of a second behind.”
Verstappen had already expressed his concerns about the RB20 at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.
“I’m very frustrated because not everything is good enough,” Verstappen said. “Perhaps I don’t think there was much wrong with my lap, but the car is just not good enough, it’s too sensitive and also very slow.”
‘The fact that someone gets in my way in the last corner is annoying, but in the end it doesn’t make a big difference.
“If you’re fast enough, you’re always there. All that team play doesn’t really matter to me.
“If you are faster, you overtake them, so they can play as a team, but it doesn’t matter. But anyway, I don’t feel like we are faster at the moment, so I’m not happy with that either. I think I’m right because it will be another long season like this.”
Three-time world drivers’ champion Verstappen expressed concerns about his car last month
Marko says Red Bull have failed to fix the RB20’s balance and speed issues over the summer
Helmut Marko is a former professional racing driver and current team principal of Red Bull’s Formula One teams and head of Red Bull’s driver development programme.
The Austrian racing veteran has overseen the development of drivers including Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz Jr., Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen in Formula One.
Since 2005 he has been an advisor to the Formula One teams owned by Red Bull GmbH.