Red Bull too focused on qualifying concedes Marko
21 March, 2013
Helmut Marko with Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne
Reigning champions Red Bull might need to shift its focus if it wants to win in 2013, admits the team’s outspoken consultant Helmut Marko, on the eve of round two of the newly-commenced Formula 1 world championship in Malaysia.
In Melbourne last Sunday, Sebastian Vettel continued his reputation for mastering a single lap by dominating qualifying, while his teammate Mark Webber was second.
But Vettel ultimately finished just third, while Kimi Raikkonen eased to victory from seventh on the grid, in a victory credited on the Finn and his Lotus best handling Pirelli’s heavily-degrading Pirelli tyres.
Marko told Austrian broadcaster Servus TV: “Kimi Raikkonen did not simply make a pitstop less than us, he was also consistently faster without suffering from the high tyre wear with which we struggled.”
“We do need to master the tyres better,” he admitted, saying the secret is in the setup. Mark Webber had slightly different settings (in Australia) and that was a little bit better,” said Marko.
“What we have learned is that we should not be fixated on qualifying. There are more important things than being fast on a single lap, such as being fast over the whole race distance. That’s what we are going to focus on more now,” he added. (GMM)
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@quattro. It’s DR Marko! And Vettel has shown himself more than able to fight back from behind. Remember Brazil?
In testing, RBR do concetrate on race pace, but to stand the best chance of victory, you do really need to start from the front.
“What we have learned is that we should not be fixated on qualifying”
Well, that is a no brainer is it mr Marko.
It is obvious that you have not gotten enough faith in the capability of your boy to deliver, when not starting from P1. I guess that is what drives you to put more emphesize on qualy than race when setting up the (VET) car.
I believe that is a good strategy anyway, considering VETs record of misstakes when he has started further down the field.
Always remember: Fernando is faster than you!