Two teams now ahead of Red Bull, Marko admits

Red Bull has fallen behind not one but two Formula 1 teams as the first half of the 2024 season progressed.

That is the admission of the formerly-dominant reigning champions’ F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko, who told Speed Week: "Thank God there is an update in Budapest and we hope it will take us a step forward."

Marko says Red Bull now needs to be "perfect" during a race weekend to win races.

"One thing is certain," he added. "The update has to work, because we are currently behind McLaren - and if you look at the race in England, we are also behind Mercedes."

The good news, said the 81-year-old Austrian, is that Red Bull’s rivals appear to be "taking it in turns" to win races, which is helping Max Verstappen to maintain and even extend his current points lead.

"But we can’t rely on that," Marko insisted. "I also believe that Ferrari is no longer in the running. But we have to be able to win again on our own - that’s our goal.

"We still have 12 race weekends ahead of us and we can’t rely on there always being others behind us and now ahead of us and benefiting from that."

Another issue for Red Bull is the constructors’ championship situation, with Sergio Perez currently struggling even to score points. "We need two drivers at the front for the constructors’ championship and we still hope that Sergio will find his form again," said Marko.

"We will evaluate the situation after the next two races in the summer break and then we will see."

Marko also hinted that Liam Lawson is now on the cusp of making the full-time step up to Formula 1, with rumours suggesting Red Bull will oust 34-year-old Daniel Ricciardo at the junior team RB.

"It’s good that young people are coming to Formula 1, I’m absolutely in favour of that," he said, referring to 2024 Haas rookie Oliver Bearman.

"I can’t name any names, but there are drivers in the field who are stagnating and are better or worse depending on the mood," Marko added. "They are blocking the way for the young drivers.

"The teams are also afraid of juniors," he said. "Of course they make mistakes, but I’d rather someone makes mistakes and has hope for the future than there being no further improvement."