Marko reveals what Red Bull needs to do to regain its form
The Austrian has pinpointed the areas Red Bull needs to address in the coming weeks to regain its competitive level for the next season, singling out the handling characteristics of the car that should work in a wider operating window.
Having clinched the victory in all but one race in 2023 in an utterly dominant year for Red Bull, the Milton Keynes-based outfit started this year's campaign in a similarly dominant fashion.
Max Verstappen won the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before retiring from the lead in Round 3 in Australia with a brake issue. However, he then went on to win in Japan, China, Imola, Canada and Spain to clinch seven victories in the opening ten races.
However, he then failed to win in the following ten rounds, but the São Paulo Grand Prix saw the Dutch driver emerge victorious in wet weather conditions.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko has now pinpointed the areas Red Bull needs to address in the coming weeks to regain its competitive level for the next season, singling out the handling characteristics of the car that should work in a wider operating window.
"I am sure that we will be facing a close battle at the top next year. That is normal in the last year of a regulation period. The field will be closer together. It is common practice in Formula 1 to copy successful concepts. And the longer the specifications remain stable, the more similar the cars will become. This automatically increases the level of performance.
"We will give it our all again next year. There will be some changes in the team, as there have been some departures. But we are well positioned and I believe that our team is capable of giving Max a car that will enable him to fight for the World Championship again. And we know what to do. This car needs a wider working window so that it doesn't immediately become unbalanced when there are slight temperature fluctuations or minor technical changes.
"That's exactly what our engineers are working on. Because 40 points of downforce is good, but four tenths on the stop track is what interests me and the driver. The handling must be predictable for the driver so that he can build up the necessary confidence.
"And since we have the fastest and best driver in the field in Max, it is only natural that we take his preferences into account when it comes to developing the car's handling characteristics. I am sure that as long as we give him a competitive car, he will stay at Red Bull Racing," Marko said in his column on Speedweek.com.
