Helmut Marko calls for patience around Mercedes challenging Red Bull’s title bid in 2024

Despite Mercedes' scintillating display at the recently concluded Canadian Grand Prix, Helmut Marko was reluctant to put the Silver Arrows on Red Bull's level. Marko argued that Mercedes needs to prove their consistency in the upcoming races before they can pose a threat to his team's title ambitions.

Right from the Free Practice sessions in Montreal, Toto Wolff's team continued to be impressive. Their FP3 performance particularly grabbed decent attention. However, the Qualifying lap later in the day made all the headlines.

George Russell claimed Mercedes' first pole position of the season, ahead of Max Verstappen. In the race, Russell thoroughly pushed for the win and crossed the Chequered Flag in P3. On the other hand, Hamilton started from P7, and finished the race in P4, with the fastest lap under his belt.

However, for Marko, the result did not matter too much as the Red Bull taskmaster demanded patience. He did not want to draw any conclusions despite the Silver Arrows' fastest car surprise. Speaking about the same, the 80-year-old said to oe24,

"Let's have a look. The next three races will provide information about how good the cars really are. Mercedes was in Barcelona last year strong and then no more. After that come two real racetracks with Spielberg and Silverstone, then we know where we really are." [translated]

Formula 1 moves to Circuit de Catalunya in Spain up next. Following the Spanish GP race, the sport will move to Austria and Great Britain for the Red Bull Ring and the Silverstone circuit race. As per Marko, Mercedes needs to prove themselves on these testing grounds.

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Christian Horner: "Red Bull's downgrade beat Mercedes' upgrade"

Max Verstappen driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 leads George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W15 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Despite the Mercedes team making so much ground, Christian Horner believes it wasn't enough to dislodge Red Bull from being the best team on the grid. Following the Brackley-based team's brilliant show in Montreal, the Red Bull boss said Mercedes' upgrade could not beat Red Bull's downgrade.

Interestingly, Horner's dig at the German team arrived after Mercedes' technical boss, James Allison, earlier claimed that Red Bull made their RB20 upgrade look like a downgrade. This did not go well with Horner as he decided to take a jibe at the Brackley team. He said (as quoted by GrandPrix247),

"Even with our downgrade, we managed to beat their upgrade. It was a rewarding race to win. The last couple of races have been more choppy waters for us, but we have still managed to win two out of the last three races."

Red Bull Racing currently leads the Constructors' Championship with 301 points after nine races. Ferrari and McLaren are in P2 and P3 with 252 and 212 points, respectively. Mercedes are in P4 with 124 points.