Helmut Marko: Mercedes have 'lost their way'
Helmut Marko, has criticized Mercedes' development direction after their poor showing in the opening race of the 2023 F1 season. He ruled out the possibility of Red Bull winning every race this season, saying 'it's too early to predict such an outcome.'
Mercedes' struggles in the opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season has left Red Bull with a seemingly dominant position, but Helmut Marko, advisor to the Red Bull team, is not taking anything for granted.
The Brackley-based squad has reportedly lost their way with the W14, and team boss Toto Wolff admits they need to "decide the development direction that we want to pursue."
This has led to rumors of a B-spec car, with Marko noting the difficulty in developing a completely new car due to the cost cap.
However, he is still curious to see what Mercedes does next.
"Apparently they got lost somewhere," Marko told oe24. "I’m curious to see how they continue now.
"Due to the cost cap it is already such a problem to routinely develop the car further."
"How are you supposed to put together a completely new car? Unless they make the golden shot, which I wouldn’t assume based on recent experience."
"They haven’t made any progress from last season. If you look at the race pace, it was even a step backwards."
While Mercedes struggles, Red Bull is flying high after Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix by a significant margin ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
Wolff and Mercedes driver George Russell even predicted that Red Bull could win every race this season with the latter saying that "with the performance they've got I don't see anyone challenging them."
However, Marko believes that one slip-up could allow a rival team to capitalize on Red Bull's mistakes.
"That's nonsense," Marko said. "You can't say that after a race. You only have to make a mistake in the setup, as happened to us in Brazil last year."
Red Bull vs Aston Martin
As for who could challenge Red Bull this season, Marko sees potential in Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin.
The car has a striking resemblance to the Red Bull, which is not surprising given that former Red Bull man Dan Fallows was integral in its design.
"We saw a third Red Bull on the podium," Marko joked. "The Aston Martin looks most similar to the Red Bull, which is not surprising."
"Eventually important people switched from us to them. The car is pretty much the same as last year's Red Bull."
Marko acknowledges that Alonso's ability to challenge Verstappen for wins will depend on what else Aston Martin has in their arsenal, but he was impressed with Alonso's duel with Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain Grand Prix, describing it as "tough, fair but with incredible skill."
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