Red Bull in a 'disadvantage' with Charles Leclerc having an edge over Carlos Sainz

Red Bull special advisor Helmut Marko has claimed Carlos Sainz’s lack of pace compared to Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc is a “disadvantage” to his team. Marko believes a Sainz-Leclerc rivalry would have benefitted Red Bull and Max Verstappen in the title battle.

Speaking to German outlet Formel1 ahead of the Australian GP, the Austrian said:

“I was pleasantly surprised last year that he [Sainz] was on the same level as Leclerc, and I was actually hoping that it would be the same this year. But you could already see it in the tests, and you could also see it in the race, that he's missing about three to four tenths. And that is a disadvantage for us because we believed that the two [Ferrari drivers] would take points away from each other. That is not the case at the moment.”

In only his first season with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz managed to beat Charles Leclerc in the drivers' standings despite the latter having more experience within the team. After the season’s conclusion, Marko, who mentored Sainz during his days as a Red Bull-backed driver, felt that the Spaniard would be in a strong position come 2022.

Contrary to expectations, however, Sainz seems to be struggling more with the F1-75 than his teammate at the moment. Regardless, Marko was confident that his former protegee would bounce back within a few races and said:

“Sainz is an intelligent, fast man. I assume he will sort things out accordingly and then hopefully get a boost.”

---

Red Bull drivers ‘free to race’ each other for wins

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are reportedly free to race each other for wins, according to Helmut Marko, despite the team hoping to defend the former’s driver’s title.

Speaking to Formule1, Marko said:

“That was made clear before the [Saudi Arabia] race, that at such an early stage, when both still had zero points, there would be no team orders whatsoever.”

At the Saudi Arabian GP, Perez pulled off a surprise performance to clinch his first career pole position, while Verstappen could only manage fourth. On race day, the Mexican seemed on course for a guaranteed podium finish before a badly timed pit stop dropped him out of contention.