Newey could be late with 2012 car debut - Marko

Dr Helmut Marko, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man on F1 matters, is not sure if the 2012 car project is on schedule.

Adrian Newey, the fabled designer of the winning Red Bull single seaters, has often been late to draw a line under a new car before its debut test.

The dominant 2011 car, however, was on time and present for the opening test of the pre-season.

"The basic concept is done by Adrian and I have not asked how far it is along or how it looks in detail," Marko told the Austrian Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

"That is for him and his technicians. Of course we want to be there at the first test but if he says there is still half a second to go then we will listen to him."

"That is what we did quite well in 2009 and 2010," added Marko, referring to Marko’s RB5 and RB6 cars that were launched late but went on to record a combined 15 grand prix wins.

After Sebastian Vettel’s title win in Japan a week ago, Red Bull is likely to wrap up the 2011 constructors’ world championship in Korea on Sunday.

"The constructors’ world title is also very important, as the premium payments are based solely on this," said Marko.

"For the title it is significantly more money than second place, and much more than a linear increase."