Marko: By Imola we should have speed to beat McLaren

Red Bull Racing have started the 2025 Formula 1 season chasing McLaren, who have had the car to beat from the get-go, and it was only Max Verstappen's skills behind the wheel that have kept himself and the Milton Keynes squad in contention so far, as he sits third in the championship.

Marko has expressed concern about Verstappen's future with the team should Red Bull fail to improve; those statements came following a dismal Bahrain Grand Prix.

But the RB21 behaved well in the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen bagging pole as a result, but missed out on the win following a five-second time penalty he was given for being naughty on the opening lap while fighting with Oscar Piastri for the lead.

"I think it was a racing incident," Marko said of the incident and the consequent penalty. "If you watched F2, the same situation happened three or four times, and only [Luke] Browning got a warning.

"Nobody got five seconds. Here, it was in the first lap, first corner. For me, it was a racing [incident]," he insisted.

But Verstappen showed strong pace throughout the race, finishing less than three seconds behind Piastri despite serving the penalty, which is something Red Bull and Marko are buoyed by.

He said: "Max had the speed, and the positive thing is, our tyres did behave very well, we didn’t have any degradation. We were surprised [by the pace], but positively surprised – and it was on both the medium and the hard.

"Compared to Bahrain, we made a big progress, but also this circuit suits us better – faster corners and so on. We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range."

Red Bull Racing brought an upgrade for the race in Jeddah, but Marko revealed more is planned in the coming races; he said: "We will have small steps.

"I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens," the Austrian concluded.

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)