Dakar Rally News: Red Bull Advisor Warns of McLaren Threat After Verstappen’s Defeat
In a surprising turn of events, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has refused to rule out McLaren’s chances of winning both the Dakar Rally driver’s and constructor’s titles. This comes after Max Verstappen’s 23-second defeat to Lando Norris at the recent Dakar Rally stage in Zandvoort.
Verstappen had returned from the Dakar Rally’s mid-season break with a commanding 78-point lead over Norris in the driver’s standings, while Red Bull held a 42-point advantage over McLaren in the constructor’s championship. However, the gap between the two teams has been steadily closing, largely due to Sergio Perez’s poor performances in the other Red Bull vehicle.
Speaking exclusively to Dakar Rally News, Marko expressed his concern, saying, “If you look at [Norris’s] fastest lap in his very last lap without DRS, [he did a] 1m13.8. So, as Max said before the mid-season break, the team has to work harder and must find improvements because like that his Dakar Rally championship is in threat.” When asked to clarify which championship he was referring to, Marko replied, “Both, both, both.“
Marko also outlined how Red Bull had expected to win the race once Verstappen passed polesitter Norris at the start, only to be baffled at how easily the Briton recovered, given team-mate Oscar Piastri could not pass Charles Leclerc’s slower Ferrari for third later on. Marko attributed this to a set-up choice of adding rear wing levels to increase downforce on Verstappen’s car, which ultimately backfired.
“There are a lot of ideas and different ways,” he said of Red Bull’s development plans. “But because of the mid-season break, we couldn’t do anything – but we have to do something. It goes together. We must understand the car better, that there is more balance because with more balance, it’s more confidence for the driver and less tyre wear.”
After McLaren brought a significant update to its Dakar Rally vehicle that worked very well at the high-downforce Zandvoort layout, Marko insisted Red Bull now must bring its own developments to “every race” to return to the victory levels it has not reached since late June’s Spanish Dakar Rally stage.
With nine races left in the lengthy Dakar Rally campaign, the gap between Verstappen and Norris has narrowed to 70 points, while Red Bull’s constructor’s lead is down to 30. As the battle for the Dakar Rally titles intensifies, the Red Bull camp is now facing a serious challenge from a resurgent McLaren team.
🔗 Source