Helmut Marko has all but ruled Red Bull out of victory contention at the F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Red Bull endured a difficult first day of running as the 2025 F1 season finally kicked off in Melbourne, with both Max Verstappen and new teammate Liam Lawson struggling with handling issues in the RB21.
Verstappen ended Friday practice in seventh place, 0.624s behind Charles Leclerc’s pacesetting Ferrari as he battled understeer. Lawson had an even trickier day as he finished down in 17th.
Red Bull’s lack of performance led motorsport advisor Marko to give a pessimistic assessment of the team’s chances for the rest of the weekend.
The 81-year-old Austrian believes Sunday’s forecast rain might be Red Bull’s only hope of winning the season opener at Albert Park.
“The first practice session was better,” Marko told Sky Sports Germany. “The changes we made afterwards didn’t prove successful.
“We still have one more session tomorrow, but I estimate we’re about two to three tenths behind and, at best, looking at the second row [of the grid].
“[The car] was fluctuating between understeer and oversteer – which, of course, affects tyre wear in the long run. But I believe we know what needs to be done.
“We’re not at the very front but, under normal conditions, a podium finish would be the maximum we can aim for.”
Max Verstappen braced for tough weekend
Verstappen, who is seeking a fifth straight world title this year, agrees that Red Bull are firmly on the back foot, admitting the team are “definitely lacking a bit to fight at the front”.
The Dutchman suggested Red Bull do not have an overnight fix for their issues, leaving him braced for a challenging opening weekend.
“The balance wasn’t even completely out, like no massive or major problems, but somehow the grip was not coming alive and just struggling on all four tyres, really, in a sector one and the last sector,” he explained.
“That means of course that we are not really up there at the moment.”
When pushed on whether the issues can be easily resolved, Verstappen responded: “The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix.
“But it’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here, so I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing.”