The opinion of Helmut Marko on the teams for 2025

Helmut Marko stated that at the end of the Bahrain winter testing, McLaren seems to have an advantage over Red Bull Racing. According to him, a tight championship is expected between Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes.

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Helmut Marko, influential advisor at Red Bull, spoke to the German media outlet sport.de, giving his opinion on the teams’ performances following the winter testing in Bahrain.

The situation of Red Bull

Helmut Marko highlights that the winter tests this year were particular due to the weather: « It is difficult to say exactly where we stand, as the weather conditions were completely unusual. It was cold, there was a lot of wind, and it even rained. » Marko claims he is not disappointed with the RB21. However, he admits that « it would have been nice if our adaptations and innovations had worked right away. » He assures that the car behaves better than in 2023, that it « is more predictable. It responds to technical settings as it should. We no longer have that unpredictability we had last year. »

Red Bull Racing is therefore not in as delicate a situation as last year according to Helmut Marko, because there is still a possibility for development and improvement with the existing material. Either way, he relies heavily on Verstappen’s presence to compensate for any potential lag in the car’s development compared to McLaren, in particular: if the car is not optimal, we have the joker Max, he explains. However, for the constructors’ championship, Liam Lawson will need to keep pace. As we saw last year, Red Bull can no longer afford to have just one driver bringing in a lot of points for the team. Lawson, if the car turns out not to measure up to McLaren’s, will need to show that he has better resilience and adaptability than Sergio Pérez.

« We have made progress », Helmut Marko is pleased to say. « But the current favorite is clearly McLaren », he acknowledges nonetheless. As for McLaren’s lead, it is difficult to quantify precisely, but Marko bases his assessment on the last day of testing: « Friday, the last day, I would say that our long-run deficit is still two to three tenths. Additionally, McLaren’s tire wear was significantly better than what our data had indicated. »

McLaren: The Favorite of Winter Testing

If Red Bull shows progress, it’s McLaren that impresses the most. According to Helmut Marko, the team that won the last constructors’ championship has done more than well this winter and developed a high-performance car: « McLaren already seems to have an advantage based on the test results. This has been confirmed on both short and long runs. »

Once this remark has been made, it remains to be seen which McLaren driver will gain an advantage over the other: « Based on the tests in Bahrain, it was Lando Norris who clearly performed better than Oscar Piastri. » « But I think it was only a peculiarity of Bahrain. I believe Piastri is just as capable, and I hope they will take points from each other, which could work in our favor », Helmut Marko adds.

The start of the season will, of course, be crucial for McLaren: if Lando Norris starts the 2024 season better, justifying the team’s decision to prioritize him in races if needed, it will be challenging to choose a number 1 driver if Piastri and Norris score a similar number of points at the start of the 2025 season. Red Bull Racing will not have to face this kind of problem, as Max is clearly the number one, and I don’t think Piastri will willingly accept a number two role. We already saw it last season: on some tracks, he was as fast or even faster than Lando. But the advantage for McLaren is that they have a car again that, based on Bahrain, works very well with all types of tires and in all temperature conditions.

The question of the best driver in 2025 at McLaren is indeed highly debated and it is a very important factor for the championship. For example, Günther Steiner sees Piastri as the favorite: « Arriving as a rookie, he outperformed as early as 2023, and in 2024, he confirmed with progress. And this year, he is ready to compete for the title », he stated to the *Herald Sun*.

Alpine: the surprise of the midfield

Beyond the battle at the top, Marko also closely observed the rest of the grid. The Bahrain tests were also an opportunity to watch all the teams, not just the direct competitors of Red Bull Racing. And the Alpine drivers were certainly stronger than expected, Helmut Marko was surprised. They are the team chasing behind the four big teams [Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes], estimates the Red Bull advisor.

The bottom of the standings: Sauber

On the contrary, Helmut Marko finds that the Sauber drivers are by far the slowest. More than a lack of performance on the part of the future Audi team, Marko explains that this delay is due to a very strong midfield. In this very strong midfield, it is mathematically more difficult to stand out, and Sauber will have to work on closing the gap.

The favorites for the constructors’ championship

Analyzing the overall performances from winter testing, Helmut Marko paints a clear picture of the competitive forces for the upcoming season. The Red Bull expert admits he is aware that the championship will be tight: « In my opinion, it will be a three or four-way battle between McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and us.

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