Helmut Marko: McLaren are the favorites, but we have the joker

      A week before the start of the season, Helmut Marko shared his opinion on the alignment of forces in Formula 1. Red Bull's motorsport consultant believes that four teams will participate in the fight for victories, and McLaren are the favorites in the fight for the title.

      Helmut Marko: "I think this season we will see three or four teams fighting between McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and us. Although if you look at the test results, McLaren is already in the lead. They have the advantage in both short and long series of laps. So far, this is not a concern, because we have made progress. But still, McLaren are the clear favorites at the moment.

      It is difficult to say anything specific about the balance of power, since the weather conditions at the tests were atypical. It was cold, the wind was strong, and it was even raining!

      Only on Wednesday we were on the same level as McLaren. But if we talk about Friday's results, we were two to three tenths behind on the long run. In addition, our data indicated that McLaren was doing better with tire wear.

      Judging only by the tests in Bahrain, Lando Norris looks better than Oscar Piastri, but I think it was just a coincidence. I rate Piastri as highly [as Norris] and I hope that they will take points away from each other, and our team will benefit from this.

      Max Verstappen is definitely number one at Red Bull. I don't think Piastri will voluntarily accept the role of co-pilot. Last season, on some tracks, he performed at Lando's level, if not better."

      The Austrian specialist added that the new RB21 car did not disappoint him.: "The car has become more predictable. It reacts to technical changes exactly as it should. This is no longer the same unpredictable reaction to a change in settings as last year.

      But even if the car is not optimal, we have a joker in the person of Max, who will have to use all his racing skills. But if we talk specifically about the car, then McLaren are the favorites on all tracks."