Marko piles pressure on Red Bull boss Horner

Helmut Marko has piled pressure on Christian Horner to turn around Red Bull's slump in F1 competitiveness, insisting "sugarcoating" will work. 

After winning seven of the first 10 races in 2024, Red Bull's form has dipped in the last five rounds, with Max Verstappen not winning any and Sergio Perez continuing to struggle for form. 

It has put the constructors' crown at risk, with McLaren just 30 points behind with a considerably faster car, having handed Red Bull a drubbing by 22.9 seconds at Zandvoort through Lando Norris. 

Horner is keen not to sound the alarm bells and insists Red Bull can solve the problem. Motorsport consultant Marko is now keen to see him do exactly that.

"Horner has to show quality. Sugarcoating things won't help us in this situation," Marko told Kronen Zeitung. 

"But Horner has also admitted mistakes. We took a wrong turn somewhere in terms of the balance of the car. But we're not the only ones - it's happened to Ferrari and Mercedes too. 

"Only McLaren was spared, every upgrade worked for them. 

"We are self-critical, but we have a lot of good people who can turn things around.

"The team has worked hard to find the best setup and balance for this old-school track. Of course, we have a tough job ahead of us. 

"I think it will be very close between McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and us. One thing is certain: we will not be beaten as clearly as we were recently in Holland."

Jos Verstappen "a very emotional guy"

In a bid to understand its problems, Red Bull ran different floors for Verstappen and Perez at Zandvoort, with the so-called reverse engineering drawing strong criticism from Jos Verstappen, Max's father.

Marko defended Verstappen Senior. 

"Jos is Jos. He's just a very emotional guy and made his statements without a proper analysis," Marko said. 

"But that shouldn't be overestimated. We've had a few unfortunate results recently and were sometimes beaten below our potential. 

"In Zandvoort, we had the wrong setup, but of course. We clearly feel the pressure, we have to improve and the updates have to have an effect."