Red Bull relieved to be 'not far' behind

Mar.14 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko sounded relieved as practice action kicked off in Melbourne.

While early championship favourite Lando Norris topped the times, the promise of an ultra-close battle also seems to be brewing for the 2025 season.

“The results are really close,” Red Bull advisor Marko told ORF. “Thank God we are not that far away.

“The four strongest teams – McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and us – are very close, and the four tenths that Max (Verstappen) lost is not representative.

“It will be an exciting event and it is all about fine-tuning.”

Marko’s comments follow top McLaren driver Norris playing down his status as the outright favourite to win the world championship this year.

Earlier, Mercedes’ George Russell insisted: “Let’s not kid ourselves – we know that McLaren are without a doubt the clear favourites right now.

“They looked absolutely dominant in testing and I’m sure they are the ones we have to beat.”

Most point to Norris’ highly impressive long run pace recently in Bahrain. Norris, however, noted: “Oscar (Piastri) did a run the next day that was much slower.

“Not because he drove worse, but simply because the conditions on the last day were considerably slower. So I’m quite surprised that so many people are being so short-sighted – especially people you wouldn’t expect.

“I suppose everyone wants to play the dark horse. I know how much fuel and other things Ferrari used in many of the tests. I think people will be surprised how fast they’ll be this weekend,” Norris added.

Indeed, Charles Leclerc topped the second session – ahead of the McLarens. Verstappen’s gap to the leader, meanwhile, grew to six tenths.

Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore thinks the period of Red Bull and Verstappen’s clear dominance is definitely “over”.

But he told Corriere della Sera newspaper: “It was incredible how Max won last year even when the car wasn’t competitive. He’s capable of magic – works of art. He can do anything.”

As for Marko, he warns that Red Bull made progress with the car between the end of the Bahrain test and Melbourne.

“There was concern when we realised we weren’t at McLaren’s level,” he told Krone newspaper. “And when the new parts that arrived on the last day only partially worked.

“But afterwards, Max was on the simulator a lot and gained some valuable insights.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Deutschland after Friday’s two sessions: “My first estimate is that Norris and (Oscar) Piastri will be ahead on one lap.”