Red Bull Formula 1 advisor Helmut Marko has hailed the team’s ‘best Friday in years’ at a Singapore Grand Prix where it has historically enjoyed very little success.
Red Bull has not taken a single pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit since the beginning of the turbo hybrid era in 2014, with Sergio Perez providing the squad’s sole victory in the city-state back in 2022.
Max Verstappen took third in both practice sessions on Friday, 0.276s and 0.143s off the top of the times respectively, with McLaren, Racing Bulls, Red Bull and Aston Martin within two tenths of one another in the second session.
“It was the best Friday since I don’t know how many years here,” Marko said, when asked about Red Bull’s day by Autosport. “So, we definitely made a step forward. I think in qualifying it will be within hundreds of seconds.
“Long run, nobody could do, because of the [two] red flags. But basically, Max is happy with the car. There are still some little things to adjust, and in the end it will be very, very tight.”
Verstappen had previously complained about the car’s behaviour on bumps and kerbs, likening it to a kangaroo over team radio during practice for the 2024 Monaco GP, but the early signs are promising after the team brought a new front wing to the Singapore track.
Dr Helmut Marko, Team Consultant, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images
“The car is better,” Marko announced. “In the past he was always complaining, ‘jumping like a kangaroo’, and now it’s much better over the kerbs, and also understeer is less. So, little tweaks, and let’s hope that they are working.”
However, the Austrian insisted it was too early to predict the remainder of the weekend – despite Red Bull looking “competitive” on soft tyres – due to the red flags preventing long runs.
He did assess that Aston Martin’s pace seemed genuine, after Alonso topped first practice and took fourth position in FP2: “I have to say Alonso was in all sessions fast, and they also did a very good performance in Budapest, which is similar. So I think we have to consider them.”
As far as Racing Bulls is concerned, with Isack Hadjar setting the second-fastest time in the second session, Marko reckoned the sister team wouldn’t contend for the win but “could be quite high up”.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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