Marko surprised: 'Both Ferrari and Mercedes were bouncing'

Looking at the F1 winter tests, Red Bull Racing team advisor Dr Helmut Marko shared some striking observations. Namely, Ferrari seem fast on the straights, but this is offset by a more complete Red Bull Racing. Also, porpoising does not seem quite a thing of the past.

Marko suspicious of porpoising at Mercedes and Ferrari

At least at Red Bull, porpoising was never really an issue. At its rivals, Mercedes and Ferrari, it was, and that still does not seem to have completely disappeared by 2023. Marko told Austrian OE24: "Surprisingly, both teams suffered from porpoising again. They fine-tuned it in the chassis and it seems to work normally again now, but were they driving at full power? And how much fuel was on board?"

Marko does not seem to want to assume quite yet that the porpoising problems at the rival teams have gone away. Although Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton himself reported getting rid of the bouncing, Marko said it could be that last winter's rule changes did not help so much after all. Cars must be 15 milimetres higher by 2023.

Ferrari faster than Red Bull

Red Bull and Max Verstappen come out of the F1 winter tests as towering favourites and each team will have to raise the bar set by the championship team. Marko thinks Ferrari is the team that can offer serious challenge: "They have increased horsepower. On the straight they can beat us, but we compensate with a more complete package."