Red Bull top team official, Dr Helmut Marko, took pleasure in recalling how his team has crushed his rival McLaren this year in Formula 1.
McLaren’s form this year had been so poor, they haven’t even managed to qualify inside top 10 since Monaco GP, the MCL33 was an extremely poor race car.
In an interview with the German site Motorsport-Magazin.com, Marko recalls that Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen often took two laps to the McLaren drivers during the 2018 F1 season, even though they were equipped with the same powertrain.
Ricciardo is leaving Red Bull for Renault and will be replaced by Pierre Gasly. The Australian said he is quitting the Austrian team at the end of the 2018 season because he needs a fresh start somewhere else.
“Were we worried at the start of the season against a McLaren team with the same engine as us? We took them two rounds per race on average this year. You have your answer!” Marko said.
“It’s normal that they were the fastest turners last year at Spa-Francorchamps knowing that they turned their fins up to have the most support possible. But that does not mean that you have the best chassis on the board.” Marko added.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended the Formula 1 in fourth place in the world champion standings this year. (Source:www.givemesport.com)
Verstappen ended the F1 season in fourth place in the world champion standings after Abu Dhabi GP. The Dutch will look to carry that form into next season in a bid to become F1’s youngest world champion. Marko believes that Verstappen could be a title contender in 2019.
“Max never surprises us with how good he is. We will have the Honda engine next year and this project is very promising. I think we can fight for the championship next year.” Marko said.
Red Bull reached an agreement with Honda to race with the Japanese manufacturer’s power units for the 2019 and 2020 F1 season.
“This multi-year agreement with Honda signals the start of an exciting new phase in Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s efforts to compete not just for grand prix wins but what is always our goal, championship title.” Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said.
“We have always taken decisions such as this dispassionately and with only one criteria in mind, do we believe the outcome will allow us to compete at a higher level.” Horner added.
