Helmut Marko pinpoints costly Red Bull delay in 'look different' admission

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko maintains the F1 drivers' championship fight would "look different" if the "turnaround" at Red Bull had come sooner.

The 82-year-old highlighted that falling further behind McLaren at the start of the European season could ultimately prove costly for Max Verstappen's title aspirations.

Chasing a fifth-success crown, the Dutchman has clawed his way back into contention over recent rounds, reducing his deficit to Oscar Piastri from 104 points to 63 with two victories — in Monza and Baku — and a second place in Singapore.

The Red Bull driver felt he could have taken more from the weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, something Marko agrees with, after the Italian Grand Prix floor upgrade transformed the Milton Keynes-based squad's recent fortunes.

And when asked whether he felt, like Verstappen, that the RB21 always had this potential, and that the team merely did not know how to extract that pace, Marko again voiced his agreement.

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, the Austrian replied: "Yes, in the beginning, it was not so bad, but after Imola or so we dropped back.

"If we had made this turn around earlier, the championship would look different." 

After the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen went eight rounds without a grand prix victory, scoring just two podiums in that span.

"Since Zandvoort, we have always been fighting for P1, P2, so the direction is okay," Marko added. Unfortunately, this turnaround came a little bit late."

Marko: 'We are there'

Having proven in recent rounds that the RB21 can battle on both low and high-downforce circuits, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella argued Verstappen's pole position for the sprint at the United States Grand Prix is proof that Red Bull can now compete everywhere.

Marko sees the situation the same way. When it was put to him that Verstappen's performance early in the Austin weekend was the final confirmation that Red Bull can challenge McLaren across the board, he immediately responded: "Definitely, yes."

The Circuit of the Americas is a medium-speed track, a profile which Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies said the MCL39 had "killed" his team at following the Dutch Grand Prix.

"All this 'medium speed', 'temperature' and all these stories, they don't count anymore," Marko flatly stated when his colleague's prior remark was raised.

"We are there. And in one corner, it's going within a thousandth of a second; it's not like it was before, half a second or so in some sectors.

"So it shows that our car made a big step forward. And Max, of course, is using it to the maximum."

However, Marko still believes Verstappen cannot win the championship alone, reiterating his opinion that he will need "help" from Piastri and Lando Norris.

"We can't do it on our own," he said. "We need some help from McLaren... It's not impossible."