Red Bull make 'impossible' claim in Brazilian battle with McLaren

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has detailed the extent to which the Milton Keynes team is struggling to prepare the RB20 for the rigours of the newly-resurfaced Interlagos track.

Max Verstappen qualified fourth for the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint, whilst Sergio Perez was knocked out in SQ2. The Mexican driver will start the one-third distance race from P13.

The recently laid asphalt at the Brazilian circuit is proving to be more bumpy than the previous older version, and is something that directly plays into one of Red Bull's established weaknesses.

As seen across the current F1 season, the team's drivers struggle to extract lap time from the RB20 at circuits that have punishing kerbs or bumps.

This, coupled with the car's already small balance window, means Verstappen and Perez are powerless to take the fight to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, both of which have developed into the strongest teams in F1 over the year.

With the former team locking out the front row for the sprint, spearheaded by Oscar Piastri, and Ferrari finishing either side of the Dutchman, Marko underlined his team's prospects for the race.

"We are too slow," the 81-year-old reflected on Sky Sports Germany. "In Turn four and nine we lose way too much on McLaren.

"There are several problems [and] the uneven track also doesn't help when the car goes over the kerbs too much. Then the car starts jumping.

"I think with McLaren it will be very difficult, or de facto impossible to keep up. Charles Leclerc and Ferrari seem within reach, at least in the sprint race. But the gap is very big given the short lap."

Lawson 'driving flawlessly'

It was not all bad news for the Red Bull family in sprint qualifying.

In just his third round back after being parachuted in to replace Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson continued to impress, reaching SQ3 in his RB. He ultimately went eighth fastest.

"It was very solid again," said Marko, when appraising the New Zealander's performance, as team-mate Yuki Tsunoda got knocked out in SQ1.

"He is driving here for the first time and driving flawlessly," Marko added of Lawson. "And even when the pressure is on, like in SQ3, he absolutely delivers a top performance."