The Mexican driver Sergio Perez, from the Red Bull Racing RB20 team, took part in the practice day of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, on March 22, 2024.
Helmut Marko, advisor to Red Bull, expressed caution regarding Ferrari’s impressive performance during the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix practice. Ferrari has emerged as Red Bull’s main competitor in the early stages of the season, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz each securing a third place so far. However, Leclerc has been three tenths behind Max Verstappen in terms of single lap times in both races, and he was 18 seconds behind Verstappen in the race in Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, Ferrari showed a strong performance in the practice sessions at the Albert Park circuit. Leclerc finished the second practice session 0.389 seconds ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull. Marko, however, believes that it is Leclerc’s impressive performance in race simulation that concerns Red Bull more than Ferrari’s apparent single lap speed. He stated: “I believe Ferrari used an optimized power map in their qualifying simulation, while we did not. That’s why the three tenths difference we have to them I don’t consider as serious. But in the long runs they were impressive. As for us, our setup is still not right.”
Verstappen’s track time was limited in the second session due to damage suffered when running over a curb during FP1, which led Red Bull to change the floor of his car. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez, a Red Bull driver, dropped to eighth position in the lap times of FP2, trailing eight tenths behind the pace set by Leclerc in a Ferrari SF-24 accordingly.
Marko recognized that Leclerc’s strong performance since the beginning of the race in Melbourne highlighted the need for Red Bull to make improvements and adjust its setup. He stated: “We have to make improvements. The car is not that bad. But Leclerc has set a pace that requires us to make many adjustments to our setup. I believe that, overall, it is necessary to say that the grid is getting closer.”
Red Bull’s dominance with the current ground effect cars was resumed in 2024, despite tensions that have overshadowed the team’s performances on the track. Marko had previously suggested that he could be suspended from his position at Red Bull in Jeddah, but later retracted that statement and confirmed that he will remain with the team. Verstappen reaffirmed his commitment to fulfill his contract with Red Bull until 2028, and Marko is hopeful that internal conflicts within the team are starting to be resolved. He concluded: “Things are calming down, thank God. Eventually, everything will go back to how it was before.”
