Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is already looking ahead to the GP Miami, and sees one major disadvantage for his team during the American race weekend. It is expected to be quite hot during the Grand Prix weekend, conditions under which the McLaren car thrives better than the RB21. Marko hopes that Red Bull can improve this aspect before the European part of the F1 calendar.
During the Grand Prix weekend in Saudi Arabia, McLaren managed to create a gap with the competition during the free practice sessions. For instance, Max Verstappen was eight tenths slower than the two McLaren drivers during FP3, but took pole position later in the day as temperatures in Jeddah dropped.
High Temperatures
According to advisor Helmut Marko, the biggest challenge for Red Bull in the upcoming hot Grand Prix weekend in Miami lies in the high temperatures. “We are primarily expecting higher temperatures (in Miami), and on paper, that’s not an advantage for us,” Marko writes in his Speedweek column. “In Jeddah, we were eight-tenths behind McLaren in the third free practice, in significantly warmer conditions than later in the qualification.”
“We and the other competitors expected McLaren to pull away from everyone. But that didn’t happen. In Miami, we still expect the conditions to favor McLaren more,” says Marko. The qualification in Miami starts at 16:00 local time, when, according to the latest weather reports, it will be around 28 degrees Celsius.
Therefore, Marko advises his own team to improve their performance in higher temperatures before the European leg of the season begins. Summer temperatures are expected to pose a constant threat in Europe. “Our task at the moment is to develop a broader operating window for our race car. And to reduce certain weak points of the car for the races in Europe in order to improve the car’s basic speed,” concludes the Austrian.
