Amid declining performance of team, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says 'McLaren copy better'

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko lashed out at McLaren, saying they "copy better." He said this while explaining Red Bull's diminishing lead in the F1 field in 2024. Despite losing two of the last three races, Marko made these comments. 

It’s worth noting that Red Bull faced defeat in Miami as McLaren's Lando Norris claimed victory after Safety Car and displayed unmatched speed. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc replicated this success in Monaco with a huge win. With this, McLaren and Ferrari aggressively pursued in-season development, introducing significant upgrades.

In contrast, Red Bull stuck to their initial car concept, lacking recent updates. Marko attributed rivals' gains to imitation, indicating McLaren's effective replication contributed to Red Bull's narrowed advantage.

While speaking with Austrian publication OE24 he said, “We are now in our third year with the current regulations, and people are copying. Some copy better, and you can now see the result at McLaren. Ferrari has also constantly developed further. Our two drivers came to Monte Carlo enthusiastically and said that the car was great over the kerbs. But as soon as they were in the car, they said: undriveable!”

What does McLaren feel about the latest upgrades?

Notably, Red Bull also narrowly avoided defeat at Imola, where Max Verstappen finished only 0.7 seconds ahead of Norris. Despite this, McLaren is withholding judgment on Red Bull's performance until the upcoming races in Canada and Spain. Speaking to the media, team principal Andrea Stella expressed uncertainty about Red Bull's level of competitiveness.

He said, "Clearly, Imola and Monaco are two tracks in which riding kerbs and riding bumps is important for performance. To some extent in Miami as well, but not that much. So, I think, for instance, our progress, I don’t think is just because we are more competitive on these kinds of characteristics.” 

“I think that’s more genuine – it’s just we have added good downforce onto the car. If anything, our two drivers are not happy with the behaviour on kerbs and bumps, here in Monaco, that’s potentially the main limitation we still face”, he added.