Helmut Marko had frank assessments to make after watching Kimi Antonelli during the Miami GP.
The Miami GP saw a long-standing record broken by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli. By taking sprint pole on Saturday in Miami, the rookie smashed the record set for the youngest pole sitter.
The previous record has stood since 2008 when Sebastian Vettel took a shock pole at Monza in the Toro Rosso.
At just 18 years old, eight months and seven days old, he shattered the record held by Vettel, who was 21 at the time of his pole.
Max Verstappen has struggled compared to recent seasons at Red Bull
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The Mercedes driver couldn’t convert his maiden pole into a sprint victory, after a messy turn 1 and an unsafe release from Verstappen’s Red Bull caused the 18-year-old to have to pit twice.
The Grand Prix didn’t fair much better for Antonelli, after starting 3rd, he fell back in the field to finish 6th, just ahead of the feuding Ferrari’s.
Even though Verstappen took pole for the main race on Sunday, Red Bull motorsport adviser Marko is convinced that his team ought to be ‘honest’ that the Dutchman was only on pole due to rivals making mistakes.
Red Bull has hopes of reducing the deficit to McLaren at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with upgrades coming to the Imola circuit.
Marko has questions about how big the impact of their fresh parts will be when F1 starts the European season, with Mercedes looking a faster package as well.
“We’ll get new parts,” Marko told OE24.
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Helmut Marko has been very vocal about Red Bull's lack of pace this season
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“The question is whether that will bring us closer to McLaren. They have an incredible car, which is incredibly powerful in its complexity.
“Max’s pole position, we have to be honest, only came about because both McLaren drivers and Antonelli in the Mercedes made mistakes on their last attempt.”
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He also added: “[The gap in the race] is really a lot, it would have been even more if Max hadn’t driven in front of the McLarens for the first few laps and slowed them down.
“As George Russell’s third place shows, Mercedes are even stronger. So, we have to come up with something really tough.”
These comments come after the four-time reigning champion finished almost 40 seconds behind race winning Oscar Piastri, after leading for the opening laps of the race.
Max Verstappen is already 32 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri
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Piastri already sits 32 points clear of Verstappen after only six rounds into the season.
The upgrades should be ready in time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, when the cars get on track next on May 16.
