{"id":33590,"date":"2025-05-08T04:33:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=33590"},"modified":"2025-05-08T04:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:33:03","slug":"red-bull-and-vcarb-pace-gap-isnt-that-great-says-marko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/08\/red-bull-and-vcarb-pace-gap-isnt-that-great-says-marko\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull and VCARB pace gap &#8220;isn&#8217;t that great&#8221; says Marko"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Red Bull&#8217;s decision to put Lawson in VCARB cannot really be described as a demotion, argues <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/helmut-marko-claims-newey-objected-to-promoting-tsunoda\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Helmut Marko<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 81-year-old believes the difference between Red Bull and VCARB isn&#8217;t big enough to be described as a major step down.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, Marko argues that Lawson is in a good position to rediscover his form.<\/p>\n<h2>Red Bull waste no time in assessing young talent<\/h2>\n<p>Virtually every team in F1 now has a driver academy, with the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/09\/how-valtteri-bottas-is-fast-tracking-antonellis-f1-progress\/\" target=\"_self\">Kimi Antonelli<\/a> and Oliver Bearman joining the grid via these structures.<\/p>\n<p>Teams see the value in making early investments towards a young driver&#8217;s career &#8211; which can pay off in the long-term.<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes, for example, secured the talents of both their drivers whilst they were in junior categories.<\/p>\n<p>Not only does this help assemble the ideal driver line-up, but academies are also a cheaper option than signing a star driver from a rival.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton&#8217;s Ferrari deal, for example, came at significant expense for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/05\/vasseur-ferrari-did-a-good-job-handling-hamilton-leclerc-swap\/\" target=\"_self\">Fred Vasseur&#8217;s team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst an outfit with such financial resources won&#8217;t mind paying a high fee for a 7-time Champion, promoting junior drivers is always a cheaper option.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Gy_RLwQVRs18ztXvZw6mKg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2213353852\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Gy_RLwQVRs18ztXvZw6mKg',sig:'LDlkHtTPhnjIJ0bAh_mQYekItpgWJoEKsR3J6PzkOQY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2213353852',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>More than anyone else in F1, Red Bull have enjoyed a conveyer-belt of young talents climbing through the ranks.<\/p>\n<p>One quirk in the Austrian squad&#8217;s structure, however, is that drivers are under immense pressure to prove themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Liam Lawson is the most recent example, meeting almost immediate consequences for failing to perform.<\/p>\n<p>In fairness to Red Bull, few top teams would tolerate one of their driver consistently finishing in P20.<\/p>\n<p>Still, they are often criticised for creating an unsustainable pressure cookers for those in their ranks.<\/p>\n<p>The original call to promote Lawson, for example, was widely described as premature for a driver with such little experience.<\/p>\n<h4>Marko: &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t say we can currently speak of demotion&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p>Amidst these criticisms, which were particularly acute in Australia and China, Red Bull stand by their driver approach.<\/p>\n<p>Helmut Marko makes the case that, given the RB21&#8217;s current performance, being moved to VCARB is not necessarily a demotion:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But that doesn&#8217;t mean a driver&#8217;s career has to be over,&#8221;<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bild.de\/sport\/mehr-sport\/red-bull-berater-dr-helmut-marko-darum-bleibt-verstappen-68172b5e146f524ed2ca4bda\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told Bild<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Pierre Gasly also had to return from Red Bull to the junior team, and is now a seasoned Formula 1 driver.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Alex Albon didn&#8217;t make it with us either, had to take the detour via DTM, and now driver for Williams.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Especially since, I wouldn&#8217;t say we can currently speak of a demotion.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The difference between Racing Bulls and Red Bull isn&#8217;t that great.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Cngp068eT8FhqCWoDTAx1A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2213248289\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Cngp068eT8FhqCWoDTAx1A',sig:'ur5Kl5ROV-t7SGlDrHpO78V_Dje0ZDV2ai7FfvBCjrU=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2213248289',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Inevitably, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/liam-lawson-i-didnt-have-enough-time-at-red-bull\/\" target=\"_self\">Lawson&#8217;s perspective on losing his Red Bull seat<\/a> was far different to the one Helmut Marko is presenting.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from Red Bull still being the faster team, VCARB have increased their corporation with Milton Keynes over the last two years.<\/p>\n<p>This means the Faenza squad&#8217;s destiny, more so than previous years, is dependent on Red Bull improving.<\/p>\n<p>It must also be said that, at least relative to the first two rounds, VCARB have been less competitive in the midfield.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/06\/christian-horner-mclaren-on-another-planet-in-miami\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull&#8217;s updates are effective<\/a>, they should also establish a slightly more predictable platform with the RB21.<\/p>\n<p>Then again, Lawson&#8217;s struggles were so severe that &#8211; excluding a massive change in fortunes &#8211; there is no certainty he would have been in a position to capitalise.<\/p>\n<p>For the time being, the Kiwi&#8217;s focus must be establishing himself as VCARB&#8217;s reference.<\/p>\n<p>This will be no easy task against the highly impressive Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/08\/tsunoda-much-closer-to-verstappen-than-lawson-marko\/\" target=\"_self\">Tsunoda &#8220;much closer&#8221; to Verstappen than Lawson &#8211; Marko<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main photo: <em>Clive Mason\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Red Bull&#8217;s decision to put Lawson in VCARB cannot really be described as a demotion, argues Helmut Marko. The 81-year-old believes the difference between Red Bull and VCARB isn&#8217;t big enough to be described as a major step down. Because of this, Marko argues that Lawson is in a good position to rediscover his form. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":33591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,2245,78],"class_list":["post-33590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-racing-bulls","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33592,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33590\/revisions\/33592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}