F1: Marko hopes top speed advantage at Baku can produce victory

(GMM) Red Bull is confident a straight line speed advantage will give its 2022 car the edge over the forthcoming Baku-Montreal double header.

“For the first time in the hybrid era, we have the fastest car on the straights,” Dr Helmut Marko told the German broadcaster RTL.

“We used to be one of the slowest teams in that way, but in Jeddah and Miami we beat Ferrari because of our better top speed.

“The next circuits have long straights – Baku’s is the longest of the entire calendar.”

The 78-year-old Austrian also sees Red Bull with another eminent advantage over championship rivals Ferrari, whose Charles Leclerc trails Max Verstappen by 9 points.

“Ferrari is especially fast in slow corners, but the next two circuits don’t have many of them,” Marko said.

“I hope we can use our advantage in the next races. With a bit of luck we won on the last two real Ferrari circuits, and now we want to beat them on our own again.”

He also thinks it’s a good moment to pull out Red Bull’s already 36 point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

“A win is nice enough, but a one-two would, of course, be twice as nice,” said Marko, after Verstappen’s newly re-signed teammate Sergio Perez won at Monaco.

“However, we should not underestimate Leclerc and Ferrari,” he insisted.