Helmut Marko: We are too focused on qualifying

Sebastian Vettel & Helmut Marko

Red Bull might need to tweak its focus if it wants to win in 2013.

That is the admission of the energy drink-owned squad’s forthright management figure Dr Helmut Marko, on the eve of round two of the newly-commenced world championship in Malaysia.

In Melbourne last Sunday, Sebastian Vettel continued his reputation for mastering a single lap by dominating qualifying, while his teammate Mark Webber was second.

But Vettel ultimately finished just third, while Kimi Raikkonen eased to victory from seventh on the grid, in a victory credited on the Finn and his Lotus best handling Pirelli’s heavily-degrading Pirelli tyres.

Marko told Austrian broadcaster Servus TV: “Kimi Raikkonen did not simply make a pitstop less than us, he was also consistently faster without suffering from the high tyre wear with which we struggled.

“We do need to master the tyres better,” he admitted, saying the secret is in the setup.

“Mark Webber had slightly different settings (in Australia) and that was a little bit better,” said Marko.

“What we have learned is that we should not be fixated on qualifying. There are more important things than being fast on a single lap, such as being fast over the whole race distance.

“That’s what we are going to focus on more now,” he added.

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