Helmut Marko says Red Bull Racing fear Lotus more than Ferrari – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing team advisor, Helmut Marko has said that they fear Lotus more than Ferrari in the 2013 Formula 1 season because of their strong start.
The Milton Keynes based squad have taken a great start to this season as their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have scored competitive points with admirable consistency until now. Moreover, they are presently leading the constructors’ championship
with 109 points. Even though, they are 16 points ahead of Lotus and Vettel has a lead of ten points over Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus in the drivers’ championship. But, Marko believes that the Enstone based team is their main rival in this year’s championship.
“We knew for a long time that Lotus would be the toughest opponent,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung. “We currently fear Lotus more than Ferrari.”
Furthermore, he said that their major opponent, Lotus have performed incredibly well in the first four rounds of the season. He also stated that they have not been able to create an understanding about the competencies of their main rival in the season so
far.
“It looks like it at present. But we are only four races in and something can still change. What is making the Lotus so quick in the races is a mystery to us,” he added.
There have been a lot of speculations that Raikkonen may replace Mark Webber at Red Bull in the next season. However, Marko avoided making any kind of comment on the rumours and expressed that they will hopefully make the decision about their next year’s
driver line-up before August.
“I've said it several times,” he said. “Driver decisions are made before August, and that will be the case this year, too.”
It will be important to mention that the defending champions have struggled a lot with the tyre management in the season so far. Nevertheless, they are looking forward to make some essential developments to resolve the tyre related issues to compete well
with their rivals in the forthcoming races.
The competition is expected to be even tougher in the season ahead as all the contenders making significant advancement in their cars. It will be thrilling to see whether Red Bull will be able to defend their title or not.
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