Marko sits down with Wolff: 'Without Verstappen we wouldn't have won those'
F1 News
- Nicole Mulder
Red Bull Racing had an eventful 2024 season. Their year began with Christian Horner getting accused of transgressive behaviour, and then continued with many prominent figures announcing that they will leave the team. Talking together with Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff to the Austrian public broadcaster, ORF, Helmut Marko reflected on how the turmoil influenced their season.
Wolff: 'Red Bull looked like they were set to dominate again'
Early on in the 2024 season, likewise to many, Toto Wolff expected Red Bull to continue to dominate the way they did in 2023. "Red Bull was of course a class apart in the first half of the year, as if it was going to be a home run like in the last two years," the Mercedes CEO and team principal began..
Asked about to what extent did the controversy surrounding Horner had an impact on the team's results results, Marko answered: "The Horner case certainly didn't help. But, of course, so did the departure of first, Newey. All of that doesn't sound very good to the public. He is a legend in the Formula 1 world, the design guru par excellence. And then there were a few others. Before that, it was Rob Marshall. But I would say that when you are successful, people naturally try to hijack people away from you."
Marko: 'During the first weekends we were superior, Verstappen won the rest'
Another reason why the Austrians struggled was the issues with the RB20. About that, Marko said: "The inconsistency with our simulations came out of nowhere. Or let's put it this way: we developed an update that took us down the wrong path," the 81-year-old advisor shared.
"The operating window was very small. One type of tyre worked, the second did not work at all. As for the superiority Toto was talking about, I have to say we were really superior in three races, but Max Verstappen won the other races. Without him we would not have won these races and his brilliance covered up many weaknesses of the car," Marko concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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