Helmut Marko has made a ridiculous claim regarding Mercedes, saying that they are no longer the fastest car on the grid.
Mercedes have had Red Bull on toast for the last two races, winning both of them in decisive and comprehensive fashion. One of them was with an engine penalty, making it all the more outlandish.
The Brazilian GP saw a top speed difference of 27 km/h between the two teams in Mercedes’ favour. The upcoming race in Saudi Arabia is also projected to be a track for the Silver Arrows.
Marko made a ridiculous claim regarding Mercedes and their top speed, but he probably should have thought twice about it. While speaking to Servus TV about Red Bull’s chances for the title, the team advisor took the opportunity to say something scandalous.
“Saudi Arabia is called a Mercedes job, but how often did things like this come out this year? We just have to win there,” he said.
“What I heard from Hermann Tilke, the track designer, is that they are fast sweeps, but they are not absolute straights.
“A lot will depend on the performance of the tyres, as we saw in Qatar. Mercedes is no longer superior in top speed.”
Huh, what?
The claim from Marko was laughed at by fans, who questioned what he was on about. Both the eye-test and the data available say the same thing, and that is Mercedes being faster on average across the last two races.
Even in Turkey and Italy, the Mercedes cars were the fastest. Despite them failing to win at those places, they would have easily done it had luck gone in their favour a bit more.
Mercedes thumped Red Bull in the first race of the Middle East triple-header, and will look to do the same in Saudi Arabia. If that happens, Marko will probably have to eat his words.
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