“Still just like last year”: Red Bull’s Helmut Marko downplays McLaren’s Bahrain test superiority

Red Bull lost its throne of being the top team in F1 last year to McLaren. With the pre-season testing for the 2025 season showing an impressive pace for the McLaren MCL39, Helmut Marko undermined the British team's pace advantage by claiming that the Austrian giant was not running the car in its working window.

From the 2024 Miami GP onward, McLaren remained the fastest car on paper, leapfrogging Red Bull and Ferrari in race pace. This helped the Woking-based squad to bring back the constructors' championship to their base after an exile of over two decades.

While the Austrian giant aimed to resolve the woes that troubled the RB20 in the 2025 campaign, the upgrades made by McLaren might just overpower them. However, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko does not seem to be worried about the English team's pace as he revealed that RB21 was not in its goldilocks zone in testing, which altered the lap times, and said (via Auto Motor Und Sport):

"McLaren currently has the fastest car and is also incredibly strong in tire wear. But I don't think the gap is as big as it has sometimes been portrayed. For example, we didn't run our race simulation in the optimal configuration. It's still the same as last year. McLaren goes out on track and immediately sets good times, and that's true with every tire compound."

The Milton Keynes-based squad was one of the last teams to conduct a shakedown run for their 2025 challenger before the pre-season testing began.

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Helmut Marko shares his first impressions of the Red Bull RB21

Helmut Marko at the Formula 1 Testing in Bahrain - Day 1 - Source: Getty

RB21's predecessor struggled with driveability issues, which restricted drivers from utilizing all the track space and shed crucial lap time. The 2025 challenger was poised to solve the woes that troubled its predecessor.

Helmut Marko revealed how the RB21's data correlated with their initial thoughts. This means that the car was more predictable in a wide range of corners, but still has some caveats, as the 81-year-old said (via Auto Motor Und Sport):

"The new car is more predictable, it responds to setup changes in the way you expect, not like last year when there was an immediate drop of a second if you fell out of the working window. But it still has weaknesses that we need to work on throughout the season. There is noticeable progress, but not to the extent that we are on the same level as McLaren."

However, the pecking order for the 2025 F1 season will start emerging when the first Grand Prix of the 24-race calendar takes place. Albert Park Circuit will host the season opener, a race where Red Bull will be hoping to recreate its past success.