Helmut Marko has insisted that the Racing Bulls (VCARB) car is “clearly” slower than the Red Bull RB21 despite Max Verstappen’s recent comments.

Verstappen will receive a third team-mate in less than a year at next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, where Yuki Tsunoda will make his Red Bull Racing debut.

Helmut Marko responds to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, VCARB comparison

Tsunoda’s promotion to the senior team comes after Liam Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at the end of last year.

Lawson landed a Red Bull seat after just 11 F1 starts for Racing Bulls (previously AlphaTauri) spread across 2023/24, with Tsunoda initially overlooked by the senior outfit last winter.

However, Lawson struggled badly over the course of the first two races in Australia and China, forcing Red Bull to act ahead of the third race of the F1 2025 campaign at Suzuka.

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With Lawson qualifying last for both the sprint and main races in Shanghai last weekend, Verstappen indicated that the New Zealander would likely prove faster in the Racing Bulls chassis.

Speaking before Lawson’s demotion was announced, Verstappen told Dutch publication De Telegraaf: “If you look at the difference between the two drivers at the other teams, they are all closer together.

“It also shows that our car is extremely tough.

“I think if you put Liam in the Racing Bulls car, he will go faster. I really think so.

“That car is easier to drive than ours. I also notice that when I talk to Liam.

“Last year, I didn’t think the difference between him and Yuki Tsunoda was that big [at Racing Bulls]. Otherwise the team wouldn’t make the choice to put him in at Red Bull either.”

In response to Verstappen’s comments, Marko has acknowledged that the Red Bull RB21 is tricky to drive compared to the VCARB02.

Yet he insisted that despite the troubling characteristics Verstappen’s machinery is a level above the Racing Bulls car, telling Austria’s OE24: “It is true that the RB21 is difficult to drive.

“The Racing Bull is easier to handle and very fast on a qualifying lap.

“But in the race, it is clearly behind the Red Bull Racing car.”

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Marko’s comments come after Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, acknowledged that the RB21 is “a little more edgy” than the Racing Bulls, which has a more understeery balance.

Horner echoed Marko’s claim that the Red Bull outclasses the Racing Bull over the course of a race stint, telling media in Shanghai: “I think the Racing Bull is a more settled car in terms of it probably is a little more stable on entry.

“It probably has a bit more understeer in that car and therefore is easier to adapt to but you can see the difference in pace in the cars on a longer stint.

“But I think in terms of finding the limit in a car that has inherent understeer, it is always going to be easier than finding the limit in a car that is a little more edgy.”

As exclusively revealed by PlanetF1.com on Friday, Red Bull are set to bring back their special white livery for the Japanese GP in a tribute to long-serving engine partners Honda.

The F1 2025 season marks the last season of Red Bull’s highly successful relationship with Honda, with the Japanese manufacturer entering a works partnership with the Aston Martin team from F1 2026.

Red Bull previously ran a white livery at the Turkish Grand Prix during the pandemic-affected 2021 season.

The 2021 Japanese Grand Prix had originally been set to take place that weekend before the Suzuka race was cancelled.

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