’Extremely heated mood’ in Mexico, says Marko

As the Max Verstappen versus Lando Norris title battle moves on to Mexico, their escalating fight - as in Austin - is once again likely to take place behind the Ferraris.

Norris, whose deficit to the championship lead is 57 points, is benefitting from a new floor on his McLaren this weekend. "It’s not a big gain," he lamented on Friday.

"We’ll probably fight for pole, even if we’re a bit behind."

Red Bull’s Verstappen, meanwhile, also had problems with his floor in the first session - but it was damage from debris. Even more serious, however, were engine problems that restricted him to a paltry 4 laps in the second session.

"We’re right at the limit with everything," admitted team boss Christian Horner, referring not only to engine allocation but also spare parts.

Team advisor Dr Helmut Marko said: "The new floor is seriously damaged. Luckily, we have a spare one.

"As for the power unit, we don’t know yet what the cause is. But that’s a lot of problems for one day. We’ve hardly done any laps."

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez did a lot more laps, but he said they didn’t "feel very good".

"We are very far from the front," said the Mexican. "I’d like us to be a bit more competitive for the people, but unfortunately that’s not the case."

Marko predicted: "Optimistically, with Max, we should be between Ferrari and McLaren."

The fact that Ferrari appears to have the fastest car in Mexico, as the Italian team also did a week ago in Austin, is both good and bad news for Red Bull.

The good news is that Norris is less likely to take maximum points.

"Four different teams can win at the moment," said Marko. "That makes it unlikely that one driver will win all the races.

"But we can’t afford to drop out either, so it will remain exciting."

Ferrari’s late-season performance surge, however, is the bad news for Red Bull - for the constructors’ standings. "We absolutely want to avoid falling to third place," Marko told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

"The difference between second and third is around $7 million. You can clearly feel that in the budget."

Just a few months ago, when Marko was asked to compare the ultra-intense 2021 title battle with Mercedes and Red Bull’s new contest with McLaren, the Austrian said this season is "clearly not as intense".

However, as the 2024 Red Bull-McLaren battle comes to its head, amid a bitter war of words, technical arguments and penalty controversies, Marko is changing his mind.

"The mood is currently extremely heated," said the 81-year-old.

Team boss Horner denies the growing rancour is Red Bull’s doing.

"I’m always intrigued to read that because I don’t think we’ve been making too many comments about McLaren," he said.

"Now, inevitably, when you’re running at the sharp end, then everything comes under more scrutiny. And McLaren are certainly being quite vocal about many, many parts of our team."