Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Ferrari are now on an equal footing after both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz retired at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both retire, giving Red Bull their third 1-2 finish of the season and Helmut Marko believes that the playing field has finally been levelled.
Red Bull started the season with their own reliability issues, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez each retiring three times in Bahrain and Australia. Ferrari, on the other hand, has had trouble making the finish line in recent weeks, with five DNFs in their last six races, including two for Leclerc.
The outcome has flipped the standings; thanks to the new balance of luck, Verstappen now has a substantial lead over his closest rivals, according to Marko.
“We’ve had two DNFs due to technical issues… Leclerc has had those too, so it’s kind of a draw now,” said Marko, speaking to Motorsport-Total.
Mercedes, meanwhile, is still within striking distance of Ferrari in the standings, and has plenty of races left to catch Red Bull if their car returns to the front of the grid.
The Brackley based squad stayed so close by taking advantage of front-row retirements and consistently crossing the finish line as the “best of the rest.” George Russell is 51 points behind Verstappen and only 17 points behind Leclerc, who was formerly considered the race’s front-runner.
The Silver Arrows have demonstrated the value of consistency, according to Marko.
“You can see what is possible by being consistent, like Russell and Mercedes,” Marko commented praising Mercedes. “They don’t have the speed, but consistency means they are not far off in points.”
