Marko on defeated Mercedes: “And that while Max still has room for improvement”

Mercedes had a disastrous winter test in 2021. Where Brackley’s Champions team normally have their affairs in order, they have now completed the fewest laps of anyone – with a car that seemed very difficult to drive. Helmut Marko seemed pleased with the performance of the Red Bull Racing team and believes Max Verstappen could have been even faster.

“We had no issues, the car responded exactly as we wanted it to and the Honda powertrain gave us exactly what the data was telling up front,” Helmut Marko said in a conversation with Car image Verstappen believes Mercedes will return to form and simply be the frontrunner for the season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit in a week’s time. Helmut Marko is a little more optimistic, however.

The man from Graz is of the opinion that the RB16B was simply faster than the W12 and all the other cars in the field. “However, we think the Mercedes ran on more fuel and really didn’t show everything. But then they still wouldn’t have been able to come close to us. Max in particular, he could have gone a few times. faster.”

Marko therefore believes that Max was far from being able to get everything out of the car. The Milton Keynes team therefore disagrees that newcomer Sergio Perez can come close to Max in terms of one-lap speed. Marko adds: “He will be very close to Max on Sunday and he will undoubtedly score a lot of points”, concludes Helmut Marko opposite. Car image.