It does not often happen that Max Verstappen is twice in the top three in the first two free practice sessions, but McLaren’s force majeure on Friday was clear. Helmut Marko looks in conversation with, among other things F1Maximaal.nl Back on the opening day of the weekend, whereby he also indicates what he thinks of the adjustments to the RB21. He also shared the power relationships from the racing simulations.
Red Bull is taking a new package of upgrades in two parts in Austria and England. Verstappen already has adjustments to the edges of the RB21 floor this weekend. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda has to wait a week, up to Silverstone, if Red Bull Racing takes more new parts. After the Friday, Marko was asked about his opinion about the new floor under the Verstappen car.
Norris Line Piastri
“We still lose hundredths in the turns, but we have generally made progress,” said Marko, who was referring to the McLarens. The 82-year-old is asked if McLaren is again the favorite. “That is certainly the case. It also became clear that Norris is clearly the faster driver, “said Marko, who then confirms that this is the case for qualifying and the race.
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Lando Norris was missing in the first free practice, but immediately shot off the starting blocks in the second session. The Brit clocked the fastest time, and was also stronger in the racing simulation than Oscar Piastri. The leader in the championship can be said that he often builds up his weekend. Verstappen eventually fell short of three tenths on Norris, but opted for a different approach. He was the only one to rode on the soft tires.
Power relationships
That means that Verstappen also had to use those tires in the racing simulations. In principle, that is a disadvantage, but Verstappen was still in good shape. “You can see that we were daring to the McLarens in the racing simulations,” Marko concludes satisfied. The team advisor then discusses the other two top teams, Mercedes and Ferrari. “They are behind us, but then you are also talking about hundredths.”
The differences are therefore small, but Marko is expecting McLaren as the strongest team for Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari for the time being. Red Bull, however, is known that the team can still find a lot of improvement after Friday. “We can still improve the balance in the car, and furthermore it’s all about how we keep the ties alive,” says Marko. Verstappen will be without fixed engineer Gianpiero Lambiase should look for those improvements. He will be replaced this weekend by Simon Rennie.
