Red Bull chief makes ‘scary’ admission to McLaren as title battle widens

McLaren are slowly closing in on Red Bull in the battle for wins this season and are currently hot on their heels.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko described McLaren’s threat as “scary”, saying the Woking-based team is now their key and consistent rival ahead of 2024.

McLaren started the campaign with perhaps the weakest car on the grid, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failing to get significant performance from the pack in the opening two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

However, they gradually regained time through development in 2023 before taking a giant step forward before the summer break. Since the British Grand Prix, two McLaren drivers have recorded a total of seven podium finishes. Regarding their threat in an interview with Kronen Zeitung, Marko said:
“We have set the pace for McLaren. What’s scary is that it happens on every track. They are our most steadfast pursuers and they keep winning.

“It could be an uphill battle next year,” Marko continued, before claiming that Ferrari and Mercedes “cannot match the speed of McLaren and ours”.

While Norris’ P2 finishes at Silverstone, Hungaroring and Singapore were warnings for Red Bull, the team’s back-to-back double podiums in the final two rounds in Japan and Qatar were a real signal of intent . Even better for McLaren, unlike Red Bull with the struggling Sergio Perez, they are capable of fighting on both fronts. After accelerating, Piastri recorded his first podium at Suzuka before taking his first F1 win in the sprint race in Qatar last weekend, followed by P2 at the Grand Prix.

Norris believes he and McLaren can finally claim victory against Red Bull. Speaking to Motorsport Magazine last month, he explained:
“If we can fix a little bit of this slow-speed cornering problem, if I can get a little bit more of what I think the car needs to take the next step.

“That’s what we hope to have this weekend and then what I want from a riding style point of view – that’s when I’m confident we can fight against the majority of teams . And you buy Red Bull.