Marko surprised at four tenths lead: 'Our best circuits are still to come'

After the end of qualifying in Bahrain, it was quiet in the Mercedes garage. Only the fist on the table of Toto Wolff could be heard in the distance. The lead of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing was unprecedented with four-tenths in this hybrid era. Mercedes says Red Bull Racing are helped by their 'high rake' concept, which means they are less affected by the new regulations. Helmut Marko doesn't really believe that.

"Now all of a sudden the 'high rake' is the key to our success," Marko says more than a little cynically to Motorsport-Magazin.com. Especially last season, there was a lot of criticism of this design philosophy of Adrian Newey. Red Bull Racing suffered from an unruly rear of the car, while Mercedes and Racing Point would prove that their philosophy of a 'low rake' and a long base plate was the way forward.

Marko also surprised by frontrunner

The fact that Red Bull are doing so well now, according to Marko, has not so much to do with the extent to which the RB16B is leaning forward. That concept always worked in his eyes and the disadvantages of that concept, such as wind sensitivity, still exist.

Marko concludes that their whole package has improved overall and that their car should do even better at other circuits. "That four-tenths [qualifying in Bahrain] did surprise us, we thought we would be two tenths ahead. Our concept should work even better in the fast corners and here are not really fast corners that our chassis can exploit", said Marko, who is pleased that the RB16B is now fast in slow corners too.