Red Bull still 'way too heavy,' but: "Upgrades are coming in Imola"

For the second time in 2022, a race came to an early end for Max Verstappen. According to Helmut Marko, the problem is not in the engine, but is once again a fuel problem. The Red Bull Racing advisor says the result in Australia is "the opposite" of what the team expected based on Friday's longruns.

Apart from the failure, the pace of Charles Leclerc 's Ferrari proved unmatchable. This too went entirely against expectations. "We had hoped that we would be closer to them here," sighs Marko according to The Telegraph. However, he calls the pace against Ferrari "hopeless.

Moreover, according to Marko, the Red Bull cars suffered much more from graining than, for example, Mercedes, which therefore sometimes clocked the same lap times as Red Bull. That turned out to be the least of their worries after Verstappen's second retirement this year. According to Marko, there was already a fuel problem before the race, but that was solved. This problem would be of a different nature again.

Marko expresses major concerns over Red Bull reliability

The 78-year-old Austrian says he is "more than concerned" about the technical issues that keep rearing their heads. "We have never had these reliability problems before," he adds.

On top of that, the RB18 is still 'way too heavy.' The reason for this, according to Marko, lies in the previous season. The car for 2022 would have been ready late, because Red Bull had to concentrate on the title fight with Mercedes up to and including the last race.

However, he assures that there is improvement in store for Red Bull. "Upgrades are coming for the upcoming race in Imola and the Grands Prix after that. Hopefully we can then get closer to Ferrari," says Marko. However, he emphasizes that reliability needs to be worked on first before other things can be considered.