Former Red Bull F1 chief sounds alarm on team's form

Helmut Marko isn’t optimistic that Red Bull will return to title contention anytime soon.

The former advisor, who left the team immediately after the 2025 season, recently pointed to the squad’s struggling performance during a discussion with Krone.

Red Bull is set to debut its newly developed power unit in 2026, and while the FIA applauds its superior combustion engine, ensuring it won’t receive further updates, the car still lacks aerodynamic finesse.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar repeatedly described the RB22 as nearly unmanageable. Each experienced a spin over the race weekend, highlighting the ongoing challenges.

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Marko dares not bet on Red Bull

The team introduced two major update packages in Miami and Austria. Although these improvements have trimmed the early-season 1.2-second gap down to a few tenths, the deficit persists.

Meanwhile, rivals are not standing still; McLaren, for example, demonstrated in Hungary that significant enhancements can keep them firmly in the fight after Lando Norris gifted them their first win of the season.

Last year, Marko witnessed Verstappen’s dramatic comeback in the championship battle, where the four-time champion took a 100-point deficit down to the very last race to only lose out on the title by only two points.

However, the former Red Bull advisor isn’t ready to take the gamble this season.

“The competition from McLaren and Ferrari is too fierce and the car remains too unstable,” he remarked. “I wouldn’t place a bet on it.”

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