Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko revealed that, with the Formula 1 Championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton being so close, the Dutchman needs to win at least two more races to stand a chance of being crowned champion.
Verstappen now holds a 12-point advantage over Hamilton after winning the 2021 United States Grand Prix, but Marko insists that they have hemorrhaged valuable points, referring to the DNF’s Verstappen suffered in Baku (due to a tyre failure while leading) and Silverstone (due to the crash after Hamilton’s tag on Lap 1 at Copse), in addition to Hungary where the Dutchman finished ninth after being taken out on Lap 1 by Valtteri Bottas.
Marko was talking to Autosport about the season so far and his expectations for the final five races.
“Before the last three races, we actually feared that we would be significantly behind,” Marko admitted.
“The bottom line is that we scored more points than Hamilton in those grands prix, mainly because of Hamilton’s race in Turkey where he was only fifth, while Max finished second in Sochi – certainly by luck as well, because of the rain.”
This season has been a rollercoaster up to now, with both title contenders losing points here and there, but the Austrian is adamant that his star driver has been more unlucky, claiming he lost more ground than his rival, and through no fault of his own.
“But even more remarkable is: we innocently lost Baku, lost Silverstone and lost Hungary,” he said. “If you calculate the amount of points we lost carefully, then it’s over 50 points in those three races.
“As a result we are only 12 points ahead now. So we have survived all those setbacks and we have also been able to match the upswing from Mercedes.”
The 78-year old revealed what Verstappen and Red Bull need to achieve going forward in order to win this year’s championship
“Looking at the remaining races, I think we have to win at least two more races to be reasonably safe or, let’s say, confident going into the final race,” he said.
“The high altitude tracks of Brazil and Mexico should suit us significantly better. It’s just that so much has already happened this season,” before admitting: “So-called Mercedes tracks weren’t Mercedes tracks in the end and the same goes for Red Bull tracks.
“If we win the next two races, then it’s 60-40 for Max,” Marko predicted.
The competitive order between Mercedes and Red Bull has been too close to call with the RB16B and the W12 trading blows in terms of pace advantage, that may swing over a race weekend as was the case in Austin where Mercedes started fasted, but Red Bull got pole and won the race.
“It’s so balanced that the form of the day, the tarmac and even the temperatures are extremely important,” Marko explained.
“It looks like Mercedes is much quicker to get their car to the right set-up,” he went on. “We have a more complex car and on average it takes us longer to do it, but still there are only two drivers who always get the maximum out of it. That’s Hamilton at Mercedes and Max with us.
“The number two drivers, [Sergio] Perez thank God is on the up, but also Bottas – he did a sensational race in Turkey and more than average in Austin.”
Hamilton and Verstappen have been operating in a league of their own this season, serving the fans with the most exciting title battle of recent history, on which Marko touched: “But in the end these two exceptional drivers keep this duel going, no matter if it’s the Mercedes car or the Red Bull that is faster.
“Overall, it’s the driver who makes the difference. And those drivers are so strong that Verstappen can also beat a faster Mercedes on hard tyres,” the man managing Red Bull’s driver program concluded.
Which is a clear acknowledgment the talent of his lead driver who has won eight races so far this year.
(Follow me on Twitter @MallakJad)