Marko praises after disappointing Saturday: "Qualifying mode Honda was a hammer!"

The start of the season in Austria was not what Red Bull Racing had expected. Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon both didn't make it to the finish and Mercedes seems to have a stronger car. However, Helmut Marko didn't throw the enforcer's hand in the ring after one inferior Grand Prix.

"Psychologically it was a hard blow", Marko said in an interview with Krone. Red Bull's advisor is keen to get back on the Red Bull Ring during the second Grand Prix and be stronger. "We are strong enough as a team to make up for it, but with only a few races every zero hurts twice."

Last weekend's problems weren't just due to a stumbling engine from Honda. Red Bull also had some setbacks with the chassis and set-up. "But the question is how quickly the necessary parts will arrive", said Marko, who saw Mercedes half a second faster in qualifying. "In qualifying we shouldn't get such a half second gap anymore! Because the qualification mode of the engine was a hammer!

Red Bull sees opportunities

Still, the 77-year-old man from Graz tries to take the positive points of last weekend with him. "The race speed was then halfway okay again, and we have our possibilities there. All in all we see a realistic chance that we can give Mercedes a better fight", he concluded.