Marko: Red Bull have created a ‘prima donna’ car

Helmut Marko has described the Red Bull RB18 as a “prima donna” car – compared to its early 2022 rival, the Ferrari F1-75.

After two rounds of the 2022 World Championship, there is no question that among the title hopefuls Ferrari will be feeling happiest.

Fast straight out of the box with their challenger for the new F1 regulations, the Scuderia have been pretty much a permanent fixture at or near the top of the timesheets from the unofficial test in Barcelona right through to the chequered flag of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

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As a result, Ferrari are 40 points clear at the top of the Constructors’ standings while their drivers are 1-2 in the individual table, Charles Leclerc leading Carlos Sainz by 12.

But those positions would have been nothing like as commanding if Red Bull had not suffered a double retirement towards the end of the Bahrain GP when Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were forced out with similar issues, both set to finish in the top four.

Red Bull advisor Marko feels the RB18 is something of a diva – but that handled the right way, it can achieve plenty more wins to add to Verstappen’s thrilling success in Jeddah.

Wheel-to-wheel, lap after lap pic.twitter.com/bjf6AAVCkB

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 28, 2022

“The advantage of Ferrari is they are fast straight away with every tyre and at every temperature,” Marko told Servus TV, quoted by Motorsport-total.com.