F1 News
Marko explains why Red Bull didn't reach target of five wins in 2019
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After initially targeting five wins for the 2019 F1 season for his team Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, advisor Dr Helmut Marko explained why the side hasn't reached this objective, as Max Verstappen took three victories for the Bulls.
In the first season of Red Bull's partnership with engine supplier Honda, it was always going to be a transitional season as the two parties grew accustomed to each other.
Still, thanks to the reliability and surprising power of the Honda engines combined with Verstappen's skill and talent, Red Bull had two wins on the board by the summer break and almost grabbed a third in Hungary before Lewis Hamilton snatched it away in the final laps.
Although Verstappen went on to win one more race in Brazil to complete his best-ever season in F1, but his team still ended the season two wins short of the projected five.
“We have stayed below our potential. Five wins would have been possible,” Marko told Austrian news outlet Kronen Zeitung.
“The reasons for this were, on the one hand, unfortunate circumstances such as the various crashes and on the other hand, that the chassis side only started improving later into the season."
Red Bull typically start seasons behind Ferrari and Mercedes and grow as the season progresses due to significant upgrades. Yet again, this was the case in 2019.
“This was one of the consequences of the weak start of the season in 2019 but we technically caught up. This time everything should work optimally from the beginning. Our complete attention is on the new car.”
With Honda's power units becoming stronger, giving Red Bull the luxury to keep up with Ferrari and Mercedes in straight lines, they could be more competitive from the start of 2020.