As the rivalry between Red Bull and Mercedes rekindles, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, has downplayed Mercedes as non-serious competitors in the current Formula 1 season.
The recent exchange of words between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, triggered by Verstappen’s impressive consecutive race victories and pursuit of a third consecutive Drivers’ Championship, brought the rivalry back into the spotlight. Hamilton claimed he has faced stronger teammates than Verstappen, igniting a war of words through the media.
Verstappen labeled Hamilton as “jealous” of his success and criticized Toto Wolff’s comments about the RB19 development. In response, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff engaged in verbal exchanges, further intensifying the rivalry.
However, Helmut Marko emphasized that Red Bull is primarily focused on optimizing its team’s performance and doesn’t concern itself with Mercedes unless they become serious competitors.
Marko stated, “We look at our team to get the best performance from our own team, and we don’t worry about Mercedes as long as they are not a serious competitor for us. So we just look after our own thing, we do the best we can and we don’t make up all those kind of stories like they do.”
Amidst the rivalry, Max Verstappen’s remarkable winning streak has been a key highlight. Marko acknowledged the significance of this achievement for Verstappen and emphasized its importance.
“For Max [Verstappen], this winning streak means a lot. For me personally, getting the 100th win as a team was even more special than this, but it’s fantastic for Max. He was a bit nervous about getting it here as well. I think it was very important for him to break that record, now he’s got it, so I think he’s a bit more relaxed for the next races,” Marko concluded.
As Red Bull closes in on Williams for the position of the fourth most successful team in the history of the sport, with Williams currently at 114 wins and Red Bull at 106, the rivalry between Red Bull and Mercedes is expected to continue throughout the season, potentially leading to further verbal exchanges between the teams.
In terms of historical wins, Mercedes holds the record with 125 wins, but Red Bull’s strong performance could see them challenging Mercedes’ record by the end of 2024.
In summary, Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has dismissed Mercedes as non-serious competitors and emphasized Red Bull’s focus on maximizing their own team’s performance amidst the renewed rivalry in Formula 1.
