Is the world championship tilting? Not if Helmut Marko has his way: Red Bull is not worried that Lando Norris could become a threat to Max Verstappen in 2024 …
Lando Norris undoubtedly won in Miami somewhat fortunately, thanks to the support of the safety car at the right time for him. However, analysis of the race also shows that the McLaren was actually the fastest car for the first time this season. A fact that does not cause Red Bull to panic
When asked by oe24 whether McLaren could pose a threat in the World Championship, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko replied: “No, I’m not worried. Norris is more than 50 points behind. Besides, we are bringing an upgrade to Imola, which I expect a lot from. But Miami shows that we have to concentrate on the sporting side of things.”
Red Bull’s luck is that McLaren has already lost a lot of ground on leader Max Verstappen in terms of points in the first quarter of the current world championship. The lead over Norris in the overall standings before Imola is 53 points, and the lead over Oscar Piastri is as much as 95 points.
Even if one assumes that McLaren has come close to Red Bull in terms of competitiveness with the Miami update, which has had a huge impact, it seems hard to imagine that McLaren is already in a position to make up such a large points deficit.
To do so, they would probably not only have to catch Red Bull, but even overtake them. And that is probably not the case today. Especially as Red Bull, as announced by Marko, is also sending an update into the race in Imola. Like almost all the top teams, by the way, at the European opener of Formula 1.
Marko admits, however, that Red Bull was “simply too slow” in Miami – and ultimately “slower than McLaren”. At the same time, he does not believe that Norris would have won in Miami without a safety car: “Norris would have found it difficult to close the gap behind Max. Overtaking in Miami is also very difficult.”
But even if Marko is not afraid that McLaren could become a serious world championship opponent for Verstappen and Red Bull in 2024, “it is to be feared that Lando will become even more dangerous for him on the track. Because the pressure is now off,” says the Austrian about the McLaren driver, who celebrated the first Grand Prix victory of his career in Miami after a long wait.
