Helmut Marko issues ‘not on the level of Lando Norris’ verdict for Red Bull at Silverstone

Helmut Marko has warned that Red Bull aren’t “on the level” of McLaren’s Lando Norris at this F1 weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Norris topped both Friday practice sessions at Silverstone as he dominated proceedings on home soil.

It proved to be a difficult second practice for Max Verstappen as he set the seventh-fastest time, over six-tenths off Norris.

Speaking to ORF after the session, Marko revealed that Red Bull are losing nearly 0.3s in the first sector alone.

“We are losing too much in the slow corners, especially in Sector 1, we are losing almost three-tenths,” Marko said.

“We looked worse in first practice and in the long runs, we were not so good either. We are still good, but not at the level of Norris. So we still have a lot to put right here. On the other hand, the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is not good, so it comes down to what compromise you make.

“Will there be rain and then do you put more wing on the car? It is an interesting decision, but the move we made was definitely not the right one, because we just went backwards. Even in the third sector, we lose everything in the slow corners.”

Marko remains unsure Red Bull will cure their current woes overnight.

“It's a mix of different reasons,” he added. “The car slides too much and I think it's more mechanical, but the difference is not six-tenths, but we are still behind Norris.

“It remains to be seen if we can find the right balance to maintain our performance in the fast corners without losing much in the slow corners.”

Giving his perspective on Friday, Verstappen conceded Red Bull have “work to do”.

“It was okay, I just overshot a bit,” Verstappen explained. “So I aborted my lap. On the soft tyre it didn’t go so well. In FP2 the medium looked a bit better. So we still have some work to do. We also tried some things with the car. 

“We need to analyse what we can do better for tomorrow. That will show us which way to go tomorrow. It will probably rain, so we need to take that into account.”