Marko confirms Red Bull problem in Las Vegas

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has highlighted the disadvantage of being without a low-downforce rear wing at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The 81-year-old explained the Milton Keynes squad does not have an alternative to switch to, but did deny the reigning constructors' champions would seek to ship more appropriate options to Nevada overnight.

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit requires a similar aerodynamic set up to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and Red Bull did trim their rear wings between FP1 and FP2 to better counteract the deficit.

However, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were significantly off the pace in both practice sessions.

Having gone fifth and tenth-quickest in FP1, respectively, the pair fell further adrift in FP2, ending the second hour in P17 and P19.

In the final session of the night, the duo did run off-set tyre run plans and potentially different power unit settings to rivals, which goes some way to account for their lack of pace.

Nevertheless, they were found to be up to 7km/h slower down the straights than the leading cars.

"We don't have another rear wing, a smaller rear wing, as we see it on our competitors. It would be more helpful, for sure," Marko told Motorsport.com before answering "no" when asked whether the team would fly replacement wings out from Milton Keynes.

Red Bull will 'make a reasonable step' in Las Vegas

Further expanding on the poor result in FP2, Marko confirmed the alternate run-plan approach employed by Red Bull.

"On the short run we didn't go out with a soft tyre, and the long run was only partly good," he explained.

The Austrian did also highlight some positives to draw upon from the day's track action, underlining "flashes of speed" from the RB20.

"Some laps were competitive, but then the rear tyres were disappearing," he added. "There were flashes of speed. We just have to get consistency into it."

However, there is considerable work to be done if Red Bull is to deliver Verstappen to a fourth F1 drivers' championship in succession over the weekend.

The Dutchman leads Lando Norris by 62 points in the standings and will claim the title if the the gap is no more than 60 points following the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

"We need more balance," reflected Marko. "On the single lap we can improve. But on the long run, the tyre wear is a problem at the moment.

"Tomorrow is a different day," he went on to muse before insisting improvements will come from the team over the rest of the event: "You maybe saw it a lot of times, people will be fastest on Friday or Thursday, but it doesn't mean that they are fast in the race... "We will, for sure, make a reasonable step."