Max Verstappen given ominous news as Helmut Marko details ‘three Red Bull problems’ | F1 | Sport

Red Bull boss Helmut Marko has warned Red Bull have at least three different problems with their reliability woes only one of their major concerns. The Austrian said the team have also been surprised by the speed of Ferrari who appear to be their biggest rival for the 2022 title.

Speaking to Servus TV, he explained: “There are two or maybe three different things at play. Firstly, the reliability problems, which we hardly had last year, but the lag behind Ferrari was also alarming today.

“They just controlled the pace and did that without graining. If Max stepped on, Leclerc could react easily. We were negatively surprised by the speed of Ferrari. They had almost no graining and we already had after a few laps.

“Ferrari can find a good balance with the car more easily.” Verstappen was livid after the Australian Grand Prix as the Dutchman suffered a second retirement in three races.

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He said: “Not even being able to finish the race is frustrating and unacceptable. I knew there was a problem, there was always going to be a question mark of finishing the race. These kinds of things if you want to win the championship cannot happen.”

It means the reigning champion has thrown away at least 36 points this season from what looked to be two guaranteed second placed finishes. He now lies sixth in the drivers’ standings, a massive 46 points behind leader Charles Leclerc and three behind Lewis Hamilton.

Marko has also highlighted Red Bull’s weight problems as another concern for the team. He claimed their car was clearly heavier than the Prancing Horse which was costing the team vital lap time.

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It is understood the team are working on a massive 8kg weight reduction for the next race in Imola. However, the Red Bull chief warned reducing the weight would be a “financial issue” for the team as it would be expensive.

But, it is believed cutting this down could see the team gain up to three-tenths per lap which would help plug the gap to Ferrari.

Marko added: “We are clearly heavier than the Ferrari. I think we have a weight handicap of about 10 kilograms. Converted to lap time, that equates to about three tenths per lap.”