Helmut Marko dismisses speculation that Red Bull Racing would be half a second behind the Mercedes team. However, the Austrian acknowledges that the RB18 is still a long way from the weight limit.
Formula 1 has introduced new regulations this year that have completely overhauled the design of the cars. The test days in Barcelona were therefore eagerly awaited by both the teams and the fans. Here the new feats of arms were tested on the asphalt for the first time. During testing, lap times are secondary to making as many kilometers as possible, but of course the time lists are secretly looked at with a slanted eye.
Half a second behind
On the third and final day of testing in Barcelona, Mercedes finished in one and two, with Red Bull Racing behind in third and fourth. There was soon speculation about the team’s backlog from Milton Keynes. In conversation with the Austrian newspaper OE24 Marko gets the suggestion that the team from Milton Keynes is currently half a second short of the Silver Arrows. “We are not half a second behind. We drove on hard tires while Mercedes drove softer on two compounds. I look forward to the next test days,” it sounds.
Salary Verstappen
In addition, the Austrian is referred to previous statements with which he criticized Lewis Hamilton’s salary. It is now known that Max Verstappen will also earn about 50 million dollars a year with his new deal. “I don’t know what Hamilton will get, but it’s clear that a world champion is in a different class. At the moment there are only two superstars, and Max is the man of the future.”