Red Bull chief says team should fear Mercedes more than Ferrari in 2023 F1 season

Ferrari were Red Bull’s closest challengers last season but Helmut Marko expects Mercedes to come back into contention

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Markoo insists his team should fear Mercedes more than Ferrari in 2023.

Red Bull cruised to the Drivers and Constructors’ Championship in 2022, with Max Verstappen claiming his second world title and Red Bull winning both championships for the first time since 2011.

Ferrari were their closest competitors, with Charles Leclerc leading the Driver Standings early on before their challenge faded due to reliability and strategic problems.

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Markoo insists his team should fear Mercedes more than Ferrari in 2023 (Getty Images)

As for Mercedes, who had won the Constructors’ Championship in the preceding eight years, they were hampered by bouncing and porpoising with their car, but recovered to win a race in Brazil and finished third in the standings.

Yet Marko believes Toto Wolff’s team will be back in the fight this season - but hit back at suggestions that this could be the start of a Red Bull era of dominance much like Mercedes’ at the start of the hybrid era in 2014.

“I would say that we should fear Mercedes more [in 2023],” said Marko. “Mainly because they have an advantage over Ferrari in terms of strategy and reliability.

“Our situation is certainly not like that of Mercedes at the beginning of the hybrid era.

“We don’t have an immense lead with the engine right now. So that is very different. Mercedes had at least 50bhp margin over all the others back then.

“And we shouldn’t forget: 2022 has been the first year under this new set of regulations.

“Other teams have obviously seen what we have done with this year’s car. So I think it will definitely be much closer next season.”

The 2023 season, which currently has a mid-April slot to fill as a result of the Chinese Grand Prix’s cancellation, starts in Bahrain on March 5.