Helmut Marko admits to being “definitely impressed by the Ferrari updates” in Imola. Red Bull struggling at Imola.

Red Bull struggling at Imola

Judging from the behavior of the cars at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and the radio communications on the free practice sessions on Friday, Red Bull is clearly having difficulties ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was almost half a second behind Charles Leclerc in the qualifying simulation and nearly a second per lap slower in the race simulation.

Are we witnessing another Singapore, or as has happened on several Fridays in 2024, is Red Bull handling free practices with a heavy fuel load and a ‘sleeping’ power unit? We will have the answer later today, but “it’s hard to get worse,” Max Verstappen concluded regarding the performance of the RB20 in FP1 and FP2. The section from Tosa to the exit from Acque Minerali was an unsolvable puzzle yesterday, and the final free practice session which is scheduled to take place in just a few hours will provide important clues ahead of a qualifying session that promises to be unmissable given the form of Ferrari and McLaren, with Mercedes appearing more lively than usual.

“I must admit, the updates from Ferrari have impressed me,” Helmut Marko stated in an interview in front of the microphones of Sky Germany at the end of the second free practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Austrian manager gave conflicting statements at the end of the day in Imola. Still speaking to the German TV microphones, he left the door open for a Red Bull comeback: “We had some problems, but we’re not worried. We’re talking about specific sectors of the track. If we manage to put everything together, I think we’ll be at least two tenths ahead of everyone.” The words collected from motorsport-magazine were significantly less optimistic: “We didn’t find grip with either the softs or the mediums. In the long runs, we are a second slower.”

Will the truth be somewhere in the middle? We will find out today.

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