Marko makes staggering Red Bull 'bitch' claim

Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has described Red Bull's RB20 as a "bitch" which only Max Verstappen "can tame". 

The Milton Keynes-based team enter this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix with a 42-point lead over McLaren, who now have the strongest package on the grid. 

For the first time since the current regulations were introduced in 2022, Red Bull do not have the dominant car, with both Verstappen and Sergio Perez having encountered difficulties with the RB20. 

It was the complete opposite in the opening rounds, as Verstappen won four of the first five races, whilst Perez was also driving with confidence. 

Something has changed for Red Bull recently though, with Marko being unsure where an error has been made.

"At the start of the season, we had a car that was as balanced as the McLaren is now," Marko told Auto Motor und Sport. 

"It could handle all tracks and all conditions. Then we took a wrong turn somewhere. The car has become a bitch that only Max can tame."

Marko continued: "They made the car more and more unpredictable. It became more and more difficult to set it up and balance it."

Red Bull 'like Mercedes'

Perez has been nowhere since Red Bull's recent difficulties started, with even Verstappen having encounted struggles in Hungary. 

The reigning world champion has been forced to wrestle the RB20, yet still set the fastest time in qualifying by some margin in Austria and Belgium. 

Marko rates Verstappen's Q3 laps in those two countries highly and has compared the Austrian team to what Mercedes were like earlier in the season.

"Those were special qualifying laps from Max," Marko added. "In the race, the superiority was gone. 

"Like Mercedes at the beginning of the year, we are sometimes fast and sometimes slow depending on the conditions. Sometimes even in the same race as in Silverstone, where it rained in between."

Verstappen has failed to secure a victory in the last four victories and only has one podium since he won the Spanish Grand Prix. 

Some things have gone against the three-time world champion, as outlined by Marko.

"We are better than our last results," Marko insisted. "Without the bad pit stop in Spielberg, the collision with Hamilton in Hungary and the grid penalty in Spa, Max would be in a better position."