After the wonderful 2021 Formula 1 season, now the focus is once again on what the category calls ‘a new era’. Among other things, ground effect returns, forcing teams to generate downforce in a different way.
At the moment, only drivers and managers can afford a break. “The factory is running almost non-stop. The English don’t like holidays anyway, they were only busy on Boxing Day,” joked Helmut Marko.
At Red Bull they are convinced that all the hard work they are doing should lead them to defend the title. Marko leaves no doubt about the ambition for 2022: “The public goal is to win a new world title,” said the Austrian.
At the moment, the performance of each team is totally indecipherable, so Marko can only stick to his own job at the Red Bull factory. In that sense, the team is on the right track, he says: “At least I haven’t received any contradictory information yet.”
That applies to work in Milton Keynes, but also in Japan, where Honda is still building the 2022 engine and adapting it for the arrival of E10 fuel: “Honda is working very hard on that adjustment, yes. What I hear is positive, although performance [of the E10] is not yet at the level of 2021. But in general, we just have to wait and see how it works.”
In reference to the regulatory change, Marko believes that Mercedes and Red Bull continue to have the best opportunities for 2022: “With such a big change, of course, you can never be completely sure of anything, but Mercedes and we at least have the potential , the people and also the continuity”.
George Russell will be Lewis Hamilton’s new partner in 2022, but Helmut Marko is not scared: “I think Norris will be the first (of the youngsters) to catch up. Leclerc has been exposed a bit by Carlos Sainz Jr. Russell is without a doubt a great challenge also for Hamilton , also rhetorically and politically because he is British. He is an incredibly fast driver in qualifying, but in the race the difference with Latifi was no longer so great. He still has to prove his worth, “concluded the advisor of the energy drink equipment.
