Helmut Marco says there are serious concerns that Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull at the end of the season if the team doesn’t improve performance.
Verstappen finished sixth in the Bahrain Grampuri after chasing Pierre Gasly on the final lap of the race, but was more than 30 minutes behind the race-winning Oscar Piastri, despite the safety car neutralising the race with just 24 laps. After Verstappen struggled so hard with tire disassembly, balance issues and braking issues, Marko admitted that the solution needs to be found quickly.
“The concerns are great,” Marco told Sky Germany about the fear that Werstappen could leave at the end of the season. “Like I said, he has a car that he can win again, so improvements have to come in the near future. We have to build a foundation in the car so that he can compete for the World Championship.”
The possibility of a better outcome for Verstappen was hampered by two slow pit stops. One is due to signaling problems, and the other is due to slow tire changes.
“The pace was very bad, but of course I wasn’t expecting the race I had, because basically everything wasn’t going well, so I could be wrong,” Verstappen said. “It probably made it a little worse, but I think the position I ended up with is the maximum we can do at the end of the day.
“The brakes get a little better because I was allowed to change the materials, but the problem isn’t just because the feeling of the brakes is still not where I want them, and the tires are overheated, so when I brake, it’s very easy to lock the front and rear at the same time.”
Verstappen, who won Japan a week ago, said Bahrain’s track layout and surface exposed Red Bull’s weaknesses further.
“It’s not balanced and it’s even more emphasised on this truck, and when balance and tire management are worse than other trucks, it gets even worse on this truck.
“It feels like somehow this year is getting worse with the tires. It’s getting very complicated. Last year it wasn’t that bad around here. Of course, people have made improvements, but I feel that the weekends are actually worse than last year.