Helmut Marko has opened up on the gap he believes Red Bull is lacking to rivals McLaren ahead of the new F1 season. McLaren enjoyed a strong pre-season test in Bahrain last month and have been tipped as the favourite by many to start the upcoming campaign in the strongest form. The Woking-based outfit won the constructors' championship last year over Ferrari and has set its sights on adding the drivers' title to its achievements in 2025. Red Bull has been a consistent front-runner in F1 across the last decade - but Marko has suggested it is well behind McLaren ahead of the new term. Marko told ServusTV that he sees McLaren as being “half to one second faster" than Red Bull across one lap. Judging the pecking order after pre-season testing, Marko stated: “McLaren was clearly superior. “In the short runs, they didn't show that... they drove out: sector one, best time. Sector two, boom. And then they returned to pits. “So they tried to conceal their true potential.” Marko noted that McLaren set the impressive sector times despite not topping the speed traps - leaving the Austrian to make a startling conclusion. “They were still not at the front in the top speed measurements. “This again suggests that they did not drive with full engine power. So if this is the result in Australia, then it is clearly first and second.”
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