Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was once again forced to watch a McLaren claim victory in Miami. Oscar Piastri crossed the finish line nearly forty seconds ahead of Red Bull’s own driver, Max Verstappen. The Austrians view the upcoming race, the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, as a make-or-break moment, but Marko doubts whether the forthcoming upgrades will be enough to catch up with McLaren.
Currently, with a gap of 141 points between championship leader McLaren and third-place Red Bull, the roles have reversed compared to a year ago. At that time, the Austrians were leading the championship with a 115-point advantage over McLaren. Thanks to a series of successful upgrades by the British team, McLaren was not only able to keep up with Red Bull after the 2024 Miami Grand Prix but also overtake them.
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko does not believe his team can easily replicate the British team’s success a year later. “The conclusion is that we are much too slow,” the Austrian told Motorsport.com after the Miami Grand Prix. “We saw that McLaren was going full throttle, and we are losing seven-tenths to them. Their real speed became clear for the first time in Miami. We need to find performance, as it was truly depressing how fast the McLarens were.” Both McLarens eventually crossed the finish line in Florida nearly forty seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Make or Break
Therefore, Red Bull is bringing upgrades to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The team views the upcoming race as a make-or-break moment. “It has to be enough, but it’s very difficult to bridge such a large gap,” Marko told OE24. The Austrian praises the MCL39 as a ‘great, strong car’. “We have to be honest, Max only got pole position (in Miami) because both McLarens and Antonelli in the Mercedes made mistakes during their final attempts.”
