Helmut Marko takes swipe at Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | F1 | Sport

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has fired shots at Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team when discussing the current fight at the front of the F1 grid. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have had two epic battles in the opening races of the new season.

Leclerc secured his first F1 victory in Bahrain but narrowly lost out to Verstappen in Saudi Arabia after late overtake. The early signs are that Red Bull will have strong competition from Ferrari for the Constructors’ Championship this season.

That is a stark contrast from the past eight years, in which Mercedes have dominated the manufacturer’s leaderboard. Red Bull’s rivalry with the Silver Arrows turned nasty and political at times last term and Marko took a swipe at Hamilton’s team when discussing his side’s fight with Ferrari.

“It’s a new rivalry,” Marko told Telegraaf. “Mercedes is at least half a second too slow at the moment, but who knows, they may be able to solve their problems. But we don’t sleep either. We work hard to further develop the car. I think it’s more beautiful to fight with Leclerc and Ferrari than with Mercedes. It is now more on a sporting level. I know we’ve only had two races, but I don’t think it will escalate like Mercedes.”

Marko also explained the changes Red Bull make in Saudi Arabia to allow Verstappen to compete for the race win.

“If Max sees his chance, he will go for it. His overtakes are incredible,” added Marko. “We also decided on Friday to use a smaller rear wing, so that we had more top speed. The handicap was that we lost a few tenths in the first sector. Fortunately, it fell our way.”

After the race Verstappen said: “It was really tough but a good race. We were battling hard and tried to play the long game. The tyres were wearing out quite quick. At the end we had a bit more pace. It wasn’t easy playing smart tricks in the final corner. Really happy that we finally kickstarted the season.