Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed that the team has taken a “wrong turn somewhere” in development which has turned its 2024 Formula 1 car into “a bitch”.
The Austrian outfit began the season in a similar dominant fashion to how it ended the previous term with four victories in the opening five races and three 1-2 results.
However, Red Bull’s pre-eminence has been dispelled since as the grid has converged, with McLaren reducing the gap to 42 points in the Constructors’ Championship.
Sergio Perez has endured a wretched run as he has amassed 28 points over the past eight rounds, prompting a discussion to be held over his position within the side.
But while Verstappen has protected a sizeable advantage in the standings, the Dutchman has admitted that he has been made to drive on the limit over recent events.
Marko has acknowledged that Red Bull has made a mishap with upgrades this season which has seen its package now comprise a much narrower operating window.
“At the start of the season, we had a car that was as balanced as the McLaren is now,” Marko told Auto Motor und Sport.
“It could handle all tracks and all conditions. Then we took a wrong turn somewhere. The car has become a bitch that only Max can tame.”
Marko added: “They made the car more and more unpredictable. It became more and more difficult to set it up and balance it.”
Marko has compared Red Bull’s woes to the experience Mercedes endured earlier this season with a car that showed promise in glimpses that would then disappear.
“Those were special qualifying laps from Max,” Marko added in reference to Verstappen’s pole laps in Austria and Belgium. “In the race, the superiority was gone.
“Like Mercedes at the beginning of the year, we are sometimes fast and sometimes slow depending on the conditions.
“Sometimes even in the same race as in Silverstone, where it rained in between.”
However, Marko has insisted that Verstappen, who has not won in four races, would have attained better results without misfortune hampering him prior to the break.
“We are better than our last results,” the Austrian argued.
“Without the bad pit stop in Spielberg, the collision with [Lewis] Hamilton in Hungary and the grid penalty in Spa, Max would be in a better position.”
