Marko happy with new car: 'RB16B not a pure Verstappen car'

For Red Bull Racing the test days in Bahrain went like clockwork. Max Verstappen was the fastest man after the test and there were hardly any problems. Helmut Marko is a happy man.

"We are very satisfied. Everything worked immediately," Marko summed up the test days in an interview with RTL/ntv. "It's nice to see that all the work has paid off. Our aim was to be competitive right from the start," the Red Bull advisor continued. According to the 77-year-old Austrian, the team is well on its way to achieving that.

"We wanted a faster car that is predictable," Marko said of the new car. Last year Verstappen's teammate Alexander Albon had trouble with the unpredictable RB16. That should be different this year. "The car is not only tuned to Verstappen, but also suits Perez," he said.

Despite the many problems at the championship team, Marko thinks Mercedes is still the favourite for next season. "We are the first challenger, behind that there will be fighting," he said. Moreover, Mercedes have not yet shown the back of their hand, Marko believes. "We don't know what engine level Mercedes has been driving with here, but we assume that the difference with Mercedes is not that big anymore."