Helmut Marko believes that Ferrari will be Red Bull’s biggest challenger in Monaco – What motivates the Austrian and what role McLaren will play
Ferrari or McLaren? Who can challenge Red Bull at the Monaco Grand Prix? Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko sees the Italians as the biggest threat to the reigning world champion team. “Yes, we have to face this challenge,” the Austrian announces.
In qualifying, Marko rates Ferrari as slightly stronger than McLaren, and grid position is particularly important in the Principality: the Monaco GP has been won from pole position 13 times in the past 20 years. Verstappen has two victories to his name, although he has only started the race from pole position once.
“I think Ferrari will be a bigger challenge in Monte-Carlo than McLaren because it’s all about qualifying,” believes the Red Bull motorsport consultant. “We have to face this challenge, definitely.” At the last race in Imola, it became clear that Ferrari had closed to within a few tenths of a second of Red Bull.
Horner sees McLaren as the favorite
However, the Italians struggled at their home race: after a strong practice session, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fell short of expectations in qualifying, leaving the Monegasque driver to ponder. Does Ferrari possibly have a performance problem in qualifying?
Or will they strike back in Monaco? Leclerc has actually been on pole position once before in 2021 and 2022, but the Monegasque is still chasing his first home win. This is another reason why team boss Christian Horner sees the two McLaren drivers as the favorites.
“They have a very fast car at the moment. Piastri looked fast at certain moments, Lando was very quick at the end of the race,” says Horner, without losing sight of Leclerc and Sainz: “But Ferrari are also in a clinch with them, so we’re up against four other cars.”
However, Horner agrees with the Red Bull motorsport consultant on one point: “The race is basically won on Saturday. So it will be very important to show performance in one lap and to have a strong front axle. “