The Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko, suggested that McLaren’s recent progress in Formula 1 came from a “well-executed replica” of the team’s RB20 car. Both Ferrari and McLaren have made advancements to their cars this season, leading to Red Bull losing its dominance in races. McLaren’s recent upgrades in Miami saw Lando Norris outperform Max Verstappen, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won in Monaco, a weekend where Red Bull struggled. Marko believes it was inevitable that rival teams would try to mimic Red Bull’s concept, and Ferrari and McLaren have done so successfully.
“We are now in our third year with the current regulations, and teams are copying,” Marko told the Austrian publication OE24. “Some do it better, and you can see the results in McLaren. Ferrari has also made consistent progress. Our drivers arrived in Monte Carlo excited and said the car was great on the curbs. But as soon as they got in the car, they said it was undriveable!”
Verstappen won in Imola between the two aforementioned victories, but Norris made a late charge in that race, finishing just seven tenths behind the Dutchman. However, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is not sure if Red Bull’s recent vulnerabilities are genuine weaknesses or specific to certain circuits. Stella suggests that having a car that can handle well on curbs and bumps was crucial in Imola and Monaco, and may have been the main factor behind Red Bull’s difficulties.
“I think the overall competitiveness of Red Bull is not completely clear to me,” Stella explained. “Clearly, Imola and Monaco are two tracks where performance is influenced by going over the curbs and bumps. To some extent, this also happens in Miami, but not as much. So, I believe that our progress is not just due to being more competitive in these characteristics. It is more genuine – we have added good aerodynamic load to the car. If anything, our drivers are not satisfied with the car’s behavior over the curbs and bumps, which is potentially our main limitation here in Monaco.”
Stella is confident that McLaren will have a clearer understanding of their ability to compete with Red Bull after a few more races, especially on tracks that require performance over curbs and bumps. “But what exactly is happening with Red Bull? I’m not so sure,” he continued. “I think we need a few more races to find out, because we are heading to Canada next, which is another track that relies heavily on curbs and bumps. So, I believe the situation will become clearer after a few races after Canada.”
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