Marko fears for Verstappen's title after practice sessions in Abu Dhabi

16:00, 05 Dec

byTim Kraaij

Helmut Marko fears that Max Verstappen cannot count on luck again in the title fight with McLaren. The Austrian knows that Red Bull will have to find speed themselves to clinch the world title, but that certainly won’t be easy.

“We’ve had worse Fridays.”

- Helmut Marko

“We’re clearly behind Lando,” Marko begins to GPblog in the Abu Dhabi paddock after the second free practice. Verstappen ended the session three tenths behind Lando Norris and at first glance also didn’t seem to have Norris’s pace in the long runs.

Marko states that Norris is just a bit faster in both the short and long runs. “There are multiple factors at play. What we changed (from FP1 to FP2) didn’t have the desired effect. However, we’ve had worse Fridays.”

According to Red Bull’s top man, Red Bull is losing a lot in sector three due to understeer. If there’s one thing Verstappen hates, it’s understeer. That immediately came back in the Dutchman’s feedback.

Verstappen struggling with the RB21

“He came (on the radio) right away and said the car was suffering from understeer, and the car has always been bouncing a little. We still have another session, though, and hopefully we’ll head in the right direction with that.”

As to whether the three-tenths gap is alarming, Marko said: “I wouldn’t say alarming, but it’s not a comfortable situation.” On the long runs: “It was the same picture. The biggest loss is in sector three. Overall tire wear was more than McLaren, but only (compared to) Lando.”

And so Red Bull Racing has work to do. It wouldn’t be the first time Verstappen’s team makes a big leap from Friday to Saturday. That will be necessary now as well, to prevent Norris from cruising to the win and the title.

Has Max Verstappen been lucky three times in a row? - Photo: RacePictures

Red Bull also needs help from rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, to keep the McLaren drivers from scoring. “They’re both just not fast enough. But maybe they’ll find something tomorrow.”

GPblog asked Marko whether they are once again dependent on a mistake from McLaren this weekend. Marko concluded: “That would be lucky for us, but you can’t count on mistakes three times in a row. We have to fight on our own strengths.”

After all, things haven’t gone against Red Bull Racing in recent weeks. In Las Vegas both McLarens were disqualified and Verstappen made up a lot of points on his rivals. A week later, McLaren made a strategic error for the race, allowing Verstappen to pick up the win. A third mistake in a row could hand Verstappen the title, but will Max be that lucky in Abu Dhabi?