After the horrific Australian GP weekend for Red Bull, where Max Verstappen DNFed and Sergio Perez finished a mere P5, the pressure was piling on the Austrian giant. However, the team was determined to come back to their dominant performances, and the Japanese GP might seem like a weekend to show their prowess amid Ferrari‘s rise. Team adviser, Helmut Marko is pleased with Red Bull’s Friday outing.
Despite starting the season on the front foot and looking to dominate the two dozen races of this year, the Italian powerhouse, Ferrari has stopped Red Bull‘s ambitions and seems to close in on their arch-rivals. This rise in performance raised questions regarding the chances of the prancing horses challenging the Milton-Keynes-based team for a tough fight around Suzuka with, Charles Leclerc demonstrating impressive performances on long stints.
However, Helmut Marko does not seem to worry about such a possibility and is satisfied with the team’s performance.
We are very satisfied. We brought relatively important updates and they worked. Ferrari’s long run was really impressive, [Charles]Leclerc was a second faster. But this is not the reality: if they use less fuel, which Ferrari likes to do, they are close to us
Helmut Marko said in an interview with Motorsport-Magazine
The Austrian was content with his team’s pace around the high-speed track. Moreover, he reckoned that despite the Monegasque lapping an astonishing one second faster than his drivers, come race day, Red Bull would be faster as Ferrari uses less fuel when compared to them during free practice runs.
Helmut Marko praises young rookie Ayumu Iwasa
At the Japanese GP, the VCARB outfit was sporting an all-Japanese line-up in FP1. Ayumu Iwasa took Daniel Ricciardo‘s seat and showed a decent pace around the Suzuka International racing circuit.
After FP1, the 80-year-old was seen applauding the Japanese driver for his pace in the VCARB 01.
He[Ayumu Iwasa] did very well, because the gap to Yuki Tsunoda was less than second. It's a very positive performance. Helmut Marko said in an interview with ORF
The Austrian stated that Iwasa was within a second of his compatriot, Yuki Tsunoda which could deem his first outing a success in F1. Moreover, the 22-year-old’s career seems to be on the rise as he has been rumored to have been in contact with Aston Martin for a drive by 2026.
However, Iwasa is on a long list of drivers who are waiting for a breakthrough in F1. Meanwhile, the Austrian would be focused on the senior team currently and would be hoping for a mighty performance in Japan by star driver, Max Verstappen.
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