Red Bull advisor tells Mercedes to focus on themselves after building 'flop' cars two years in a row

Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko has fired shots aimed towards Mercedes as F1's trend of shortening the DRS zones continued in Miami. Marko reckons that these interventions are being 'manipulated' by the Silver Arrows team.

FIA had reduced the DRS zone on the main straight in Baku by 100 meters. The following weekend in Miami, both DRS zones were shortened by 75 meters. The top boss at Red Bull believes that these changes were instigated by Mercedes to limit the RB19's superior advantage on the straights.

Speaking to motorsport-magazin.com, Marko said:

"Overtaking has always been difficult. Then when you also shorten the DRS zone, the reason seems obvious to me. You have to stop intervening in such a manipulative way."

He then added:

"It is amazing that Mercedes is angry. They have had a superior engine for years. When you build a car that’s a flop two years in a row, you should focus more on that."

Despite the reduction in the length of the DRS zones, Red Bull was unmatched in the straight-line speed at the Miami GP. No other car could challenge the almighty RB19 as Max Verstappen starting ninth, blazed through the field to take home his third win of the season. His teammate, Sergio Perez, finished second.

Termed by Ted Kravitz as "super-duper DRS", the RB19's speed on the straights has left other teams in the dust. According to estimates, their advantage with the DRS is said to be worth up to two to three-tenths more per lap than any other team.

Steering this rocketship, the Red Bull drivers have won the season's first five races.

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Helmut Marko admits both Red Bull drivers were free to fight for the win in Miami

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen

In the Miami GP, Max Verstappen started the race in ninth position while teammate Sergio Perez started on pole. Verstappen ran on an alternate strategy with a longer first stint than his teammate.

After making his way to the front of the grid, he pitted from the lead to emerge behind Perez. The two briefly went wheel-to-wheel before the Dutchman, on fresher tires, overtook his teammate.

Helmut Marko admitted that since they had no competition from other teams, they allowed the drivers to fight it out for the win. He said to ORF:

"We said as soon as there was no imminent danger from behind, we’d let them drive and thank God both of them are smart enough not to get into the other car. Checo wasn’t willing to make room and it was tight because both were at the limit."

After the Miami GP, Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers' standings to 14 points over teammate Perez.