Red Bull Racing did not leave a good impression on the first Friday of the new season, that can be said without a doubt. Whether it reflects their true speed remains to be seen, but at least Helmut Marko is already taking into account that Mercedes might be too strong this weekend.
"Mercedes and especially Lewis Hamilton are very strong. For Red Bull Racing everything will have to go perfectly in order to get close to Hamilton", is the realistic comment of the Red Bull advisor on RTL Germany.
Mercedes more bothered by hot weather?
There's no doubt that things didn't go perfectly at Red Bull on Friday. Both Verstappen and Albon lost the rear of the car several times and ended up in a spider or even the gravel pit. Marko himself also cites the broken front wing at Verstappen.
That shouldn't happen again in the coming days. In fact, it will all have to be a little bit worse for the team. Marko hopes that this will also make things a bit warmer, because then he thinks they will be stronger, just like previous years. The weather forecasts do point in that direction for the time being.