Red Bull and Max Verstappen 'not at the level of Lando Norris' after Friday, claims Helmut Marko

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently claimed that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are slower than McLaren's Lando Norris around Silverstone. This deduction was made after Friday's first two British GP practice sessions.

In the 2024 F1 season, McLaren and Lando Norris significantly closed the gap to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. While Ferrari was also in the race to reach to top, their upward trajectory stagnated after a while. In the past few races, Norris has been challenging Verstappen for race wins.

Their on-track battles peaked at the Austrian GP, where both tried to overtake one another and ended up colliding. Max Verstappen somehow finished P5 after a puncture, while Lando Norris had to retire from the race due to front axle and wing damage. Their tussle was discussed at length in the F1 community.

The British GP is the home race for both Norris and McLaren. In both the first and second practice sessions on Friday, July 5, the British driver topped the timing sheets.

Speaking to ORF after Friday's events, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said that the team's pace on Silverstone's slow corners was poor. The Austrian added that his team was slow in both short and long runs. Finally, he admitted that Red Bull was far behind Lando Norris' pace.

"We are losing too much in the slow corners, especially in Sector 1, we are losing almost three-tenths We looked worse in first practice and in the long runs, we were not so good either. We are still good, but not at the level of Norris. So we still have a lot to put right here," Marko said.

He also added that the irregular weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday could change the complexion of the race weekend.

"On the other hand, the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is not good, so it comes down to what compromise you make," he added.

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Max Verstappen admits Red Bull needs to improve after a subpar performance in British GP's Friday practice

Defending world champion Max Verstappen admitted that he and Red Bull need to work on the pace of the car after a mediocre performance at the British GP practice sessions on Friday.

Speaking to F1.com, he explained that medium tires had a better pace around Silverstone than soft tires. He also mentioned how the team changed the setup of the car between FP1 and FP2 to test a few configurations.

“It was okay. It was just a little slide, so I aborted the lap there. On the softs it didn’t go so well. In FP2, the medium looked a bit better. So yeah, a bit of work to do. We tried, of course, a few things as well on the car from FP1 to FP2, and we just have to analyze a bit what to do better for tomorrow,” Verstappen said.

Max Verstappen finished P4 and P7 in FP1 and FP2, respectively.