Helmut Marko is refusing to rule Mercedes out of a Championship challenge this season, claiming that they could be dangerous as they seem to have potential.
Mercedes have struggles so far in the 2022 Formula 1 season, but the eight-time Constructors' Champions have shown flashes of speed on some occasions, something that is keeping Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko worried, despite that form not being consistent.
"Mercedes is doing incredibly fast laps in practice and also in the races, both with Hamilton and Russell," he revealed to Formel1.de.
"Not continuously, so for us it’s difficult to interpret where that lap time is coming from. Listening closely to the Mercedes people, I don’t think they know either," Marko claimed.
"But the dangerous thing is the potential seems to be there," he admitted. "And once that can be called up over a race distance, then they’ll be right up there or right at the front."
Hard to understand Mercedes' car
Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver on race day in Barcelona, with Toto Wolff claiming the Briton could've won the race had it not been for a early race clash with Haas' Kevin Magnussen. So are Mercedes bluffing about their speed?
"No, it’s not a bluff," Marko believes.
"The bluff was where they had this weird engine advantage and last year the Hamilton engine – there they were bluffing hard," he said referring to the 2021 season. "So, I don’t believe that.
"And it’s really incredibly hard to understand where this [car is] incredibly fast. They were the fastest in the field at [one] stage, but it doesn’t last long.
"What exactly changes there, why they can’t drive that continuously, is just – thank God – still the problem, I would say," the Austrian maintained.
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