Helmut Marko’s recent statements about Perez have a decidedly softer tone: is calm returning to Red Bull?
In a surprising turn of events, Red Bull has decided to keep Sergio Perez at the wheel of the RB20 at least until the end of 2024. This decision, possibly influenced by pressure from Liberty Media, seems to have strengthened Perez’s position within the Milton Keynes team.
Helmut Marko, known for his blunt statements, has also “moderated” his tone, hinting at possible changes to Perez’s car in an interview with ESPN: We believe that we can turn things around and make the RB20 more stable for Checo. Being Max Verstappen’s teammate is not the most pleasant thing you can do in F1, and we need to make our car easier to drive”..
“The more difficult the car is to drive, the more the difference between Sergio and Max becomes apparent. Verstappen is an extraordinary talent: if the rear end steps out, he doesn’t lift off the throttle and tells the team, ‘Yeah, it’s a bit nervous…’, unlike Perez, who finds it ‘difficult’ or even ‘undrivable’. Being alongside Max is a different story”, the Austrian continues.
“So we understood that we need to make the car simpler and achieve more balance, which is also what Max wants. Therefore, the best thing is to continue with Checo and hope that these fluctuations were due to these issues.”
Perez, a possible rollback on his RB20?
Marko’s final observation is noteworthy: “Sergio has had very good results and performances. Then, a few days later, he was half a second behind Max, or something similar…”, concluded Marko on Perez.
According to ESPN, Red Bull might consider taking a “step back” with Perez’s RB20: his best results came at the beginning of the year, and it is not excluded that the team might revert to the specifications seen in Bahrain for car number 11.
Are the new updates causing adaptation problems? We will have to wait for Zandvoort to see how the two RB20s perform at Max Verstappen’s home Grand Prix.
Photo: Oracle Red Bull Racing
