Helmut Marko believes the updates Red Bull have brought to the RB21 have improved performance, but McLaren is still out of reach.

With McLaren starting to stretch their legs at the head of both championships, the updates rolled out to the RB21 at Imola and in recent weeks may determine just how far the Milton Keynes-based team’s championship tilt will go.

Helmut Marko: Red Bull  upgrades are working ‘in some areas’

Following on from the tweaks and revisions made to the RB21 in Saudi Arabia and Miami, further changes made to the car for Imola have seen Red Bull roll out with a revised engine cover with a revised radiator duct outlet and sidepod, revised fairings on the rear suspension, and revised wheel bodywork inlet and exit ducts.

Friday practice wasn’t completely smooth sailing for Red Bull, with Verstappen complaining about a lack of confidence in the rear during first practice.

In the later session, he logged a best time of 1:15.735 to finish in fifth, over three-tenths of a second down on the pace set by the McLarens.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko opened up on the initial feelings on the updates made to the car when he spoke immediately following the session, revealing that the impression at this early point is positive.

“The upgrades are working in some areas but, nevertheless, McLaren is still about four-tenths ahead of us,” he said, in response to a question from PlanetF1.com.

As for whether confidence came to Verstappen as the day progressed, he said, “We hope that, with setup changes, we can improve it.

“But, on the other hand, he was always complaining about understeer, and, on the understeer, that looks like we have cured to a certain amount.

“It became clear that we are significantly faster in the middle sector with it. So, it was a step in the right direction. Max was satisfied, although of course there’s still room for improvement.”

Admitting that four-tenths around the relatively short Imola circuit is “a lot”, Marko explained the goal overnight will be to make the car “a little less nervous”.

“In principle, McLaren remains the reference point,” he said.

“And that has been the case more often this year. At the moment, we are too far away. We have made adjustments again.

“If we can convert that into a result tomorrow, something might be possible. But in the race, as we have seen, McLaren is in a class of its own.

“The changes do give good indications, but they have not yet provided the breakthrough that is needed to reach the level of McLaren.”

In Miami, McLaren’s advantage was at its greatest as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished over 30 seconds clear of the field, with the car’s ability to keep the tyres alive proving superior to what Mercedes and Red Bull can manage.

Assessing how the long runs played out on Friday at Imola, Marko said, “It is difficult to say whether everyone drove with the same amount of fuel. We used our usual amount, but it seems that others may have had less on board.

“That may have made the difference seem bigger than it actually was.

“If McLaren were running on similar fuel to us, the difference is very real. We tried everything in the first six races. Maybe Barcelona could bring something, with the sharper corners and the different character of the circuit.”

As for Verstappen himself, the Dutch driver was open about the fact that, as things stand, work is needed to keep Red Bull in the game.

“We tried a lot of things today. Some things worked a bit better than others but, ultimately, we weren’t fast enough today,” he said.

“Qualifying will be important here and, at the moment, we aren’t quite where we want to be. We need to do a bit more work to have a better balance in the car and go faster.

“It is the same in the long runs, I got overtaken by the McLarens and we weren’t really where we wanted to be compared to other Teams. Overall, it was a bit tough today.”

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