BREAKING NEWS: Helmut Marko REVEALS Red Bull’s Five-Race Plan to...read more

Helmut Marko REVEALS Red Bull’s Five-Race Plan to Catch McLaren

Red Bull has laid out a five-race strategy to close the performance gap to McLaren, with the team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, identifying tyre degradation as the key weakness of the RB21. The reigning champions plan to introduce a series of upgrades to address this issue and regain their competitive edge in Formula 1.

At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull struggled to match McLaren’s pace, with Max Verstappen unable to challenge race winner Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri during the early stages. Although Piastri’s late spin in wet conditions allowed Verstappen to secure second place just 0.9 seconds behind Norris, the real gap between the teams was far larger throughout the race.

Marko admitted that Red Bull had anticipated McLaren’s advantage since pre-season testing in Bahrain and has been working on reducing their deficit. While the team has managed to shrink McLaren’s lead from half a second per lap to just a few tenths, tyre wear remains a major concern.

“We knew from testing that McLaren was much faster than us,” Marko told Swedish broadcaster Viaplay. “We’ve reduced the gap, but after six to eight laps, our tyre degradation becomes an issue. That’s our main problem, but we’re working hard to solve it.”

Marko remains optimistic that Red Bull can resolve these issues within the next five races, bringing their car up to McLaren’s level.

The Australian Grand Prix took place under mixed conditions, with teams navigating both dry and wet-weather tyre strategies. The challenging conditions provided valuable data on tyre performance, which Red Bull will analyze as they push forward with their development plan.

Team principal Christian Horner also acknowledged McLaren’s impressive tyre management, which allowed Norris and Piastri to maintain strong pace throughout their stints. “They have great warm-up and very low degradation usually, you don’t get both. It’s a well-balanced car that’s kind on its tyres,” Horner said.

As Red Bull works to fine-tune its RB21, all eyes will be on the upcoming races to see if the team can execute its five-race plan and challenge McLaren for supremacy in the 2025 season.