Mercedes 'not writing off current title' according Red Bull
Mar.30 - Dr Helmut Marko says he is more than happy that Red Bull has a new title protagonist to fight against in 2022.
Last year, the Max Verstappen versus Lewis Hamilton battle was historically intense, resulting in bad blood between the teams that is likely to be permanent.
Marko says it's all very different now that Dutchman Verstappen is wheel-to-wheel with Charles Leclerc.
"Ferrari operates as we do," the 78-year-old told Servus TV.
"There is passion, emotion, sportsmanship, respect. You can feel that in every area. We have a competitive relationship, but with sporting rules, which is not only noticeable among the drivers, but also in the technical designs," Marko added.
However, the Austrian is not writing off Mercedes completely.
"Hamilton is only nine points behind Verstappen," Marko insisted. "They are not writing off the world championship at all.
"They will come back, for sure. It will probably end in a three-way fight."
Meanwhile, former F1 team boss Colin Kolles suspects Ferrari may have got a helping hand on its way back into world championship contention this year.
In 2020, the Maranello team reached a secret settlement with the FIA over the 'illegal engine' saga, with Ferrari pledging to help the governing body research the integration of bio-fuels.
Those E10 bio-fuel provisions are now up and racing in 2022, leaving Kolles wondering if Ferrari's work in the area may be the key to its sudden leap in pace.
"Looking back, maybe the penalty wasn't a penalty at all," Kolles told Sport1. "Maybe Ferrari even unintentionally benefited from the joint research with the FIA?
"I have heard that the Mercedes engine was missing half a second per lap in Saudi Arabia."
Marko, though, says that's an exaggeration.
"It's not that much," he insisted. "But their engine is definitely behind."
9 F1 Fan comments on “Mercedes 'not writing off current title' according Red Bull”
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Help! Helmet the master bullshitter, Flavio the convicted cheat, now Kolles the blackmailer. F1 is really going up in the world.
I bon’t Know how Leopold had the neck to print those comments without choking on the words.
C'mon, Blo', give Leopold a break. This red car fuel kerfuffle plays up your 'fix is in for Ferrari' conspiracy. Good stuff. :)
It was more the smarmy bullshit from Helmet that made me choke.
🙄Oh Christ. Hel the Mut at it as per usual. People, when have you ever seen Merc struggle to make power? I mean when in their history? There's a reason Zonda Hypercars keeps using their engines. Merc usually have the opposite problem of getting their high torque output under control. F1 is no different as they are veterans at HP output.
The real problem is if they maximize their power it will amplify their chassis and porpoising issues; as in make the car even more unstable and uncomfortable to drive over an entire race distance; hence, go no quicker. So they can't at this time. Jeez smh.
Quote from boy George: "The faster you go the worse it(porpoising) gets, so it makes it harder for qualifying because we turn the engines up, maximum power, go quicker down the straight which causes more downforce and causes more porpoising." End quote.
And I'll add, more porpoising scrubs speed. So power is clearly not the problem.
Hel the Mut's BS officially nullified. 😌
That levei of BS compounds up with age, expect the worst.
Catching up with RBR & Ferrari will be difficult under the budget cap & wind tunnel time allocation (Mercedes has the least until June end.)
It won't take that long. As in April we will see a nice turn around for Merc. Stay tuned.
And look out for some jealousy by Russell. Read between the lines on this one! Hehehe😈