Helmut Marko dismisses rumors of Red Bull having a "mysterious" new suspension

After being narrowly beaten by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull team consultant Dr. Helmut Marko has rubbished rumors of a new Red Bull suspension system for the Imola Grand Prix.

Speaking to Austrian outlet Sport1, Dr. Marko said:

"This is total nonsense. We already competed with this ‘mysterious’ wheel suspension at the start in Bahrain."

The 77-year-old claimed that the suspension on the RB16B is nothing special and that the team's only requirement was a system that could fit with the new Honda engine. Marko added:

"It is also nothing special, but we had to design it because we needed a suspension that optimally fits the extremely narrow and tight rear that we have built around the new, smaller and more compact Honda engine this season."

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko says rumors that Red Bull will be heading to Imola next week with a "mysterious" rear suspension mounted on its RB16B car are "total nonsense". https://t.co/6NwrFZ1CN2

— F1i (@F1icom) April 11, 2021

Red Bull won't bring upgrades to Imola: Helmut Marko

Despite having the superior car and still losing to Mercedes, Helmut Marko claims that Red Bull will stick to the same package as they had in Bahrain. The Austrian believes that with proper utilization of their car, the team can challenge Mercedes at the Imola Grand Prix:

"I don’t know what Mercedes are developing. But we are relying on the package we had in Bahrain and we simply did not make maximum use of it there."

However, Helmut Marko also suggested that despite the agonizingly close loss to Mercedes, Red Bull are still very much on par with the Silver Arrows:

"We're still licking our wounds. However, compared to last season it is rather small scratches because we are on a par with Mercedes, the fastest team."

Pruebas físicas en el Athlete Performance Center. Les deseo tengan un mejor fin que el mío jajajPhysical test at the APC, I hope you have a better weekend than mine 😅 💪@redbullracing #ChecoRedBu11 #chargeon pic.twitter.com/7tJ8C6kJvf

— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) April 10, 2021

Red Bull and Mercedes are set to lock horns again when Formula 1 returns to action for the Imola Grand Prix in Italy. Red Bull will have the incentive to perform well this weekend, given their tough ending to the race in Bahrain.

Max Verstappen will hope to get the win at the Imola Grand Prix against Lewis Hamilton, who won the race last season. The Dutchman will want to avoid his performance at the track in 2020, when he retired from the race after a tire failure.