Helmut Marko believes Red Bull’s resurrection in F1 this season is a feat only the Milton Keynes-based team can achieve.
Marko also pinned Max Verstappen’s resurgent form in recent rounds on the transformation of the RB22.
At the beginning of the campaign, Red Bull was over a second off the front-running pace of the once-dominant Mercedes.
However, such is the rate of rapid improvement from the Laurent Mekies-led squad; its package was strong enough to triumph in Sepang and Singapore, having come tantalisingly close just the weekend before in Azerbaijan after the introduction of its Baku-specification floor and aerodynamic upgrade.
Winning on merit is something Mekies and Verstappen had specifically targeted, as Red Bull and the Dutchman faced the looming prospect of a first victoryless season since 2015.
Asked for his thoughts on Red Bull’s revival, Marko underlined how impressive the turnaround has been.
“That’s something only Red Bull Racing can achieve,” the team’s former adviser told Krone. “The car was only fourth fastest at the start, and now it’s winning again.
“You can also immediately feel how Max comes alive and is highly motivated again. Singapore was certainly one of the best races of his career.”
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Verstappen’s premonition
Such was Verstappen’s faith in the RB22 update that arrived in Baku that Marko shared that the four-time F1 drivers’ champion felt victory around the Marina Bay Street Circuit was possible weeks in advance.
F1’s original night race was one of the last mountains in the championship for Verstappen to scale, having never previously triumphed there.
Now, Marko feels the 29-year-old can kick on and beat George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to second in the F1 drivers’ standings, behind Kimi Antonelli, who is almost certainly soon to be crowned champion.
“Funnily enough, he’d already said three weeks before that he could win Singapore,” The Austrian revealed.
“Now that they’ve given him a good car again, I believe he’ll still become vice world champion.”