F1 News: Helmut Marko Praises "Max Factor" For Pole Position Despite Low Track Temperature
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko praised the team's "Max Factor" after the three-time world champion clinched the pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix with an extremely tight margin despite low track temperatures.
Key Takeaways:
- Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix with a narrow margin, impressing advisor Helmut Marko.
- Verstappen's pole sets the stage for a competitive Saturday race, leading the grid ahead of Charles Leclerc, with George Russell and Carlos Sainz on the second row.
- Despite a dominant 2023, Verstappen's unexpected success in Bahrain raises expectations for the 2024 season, while Marko notes the impact of low track temperatures on Red Bull's performance.
Max Verstappen claimed the top spot with a 1:29.179, ahead of Charles Leclerc for the Saturday race start. George Russell and Carlos Sainz claimed the second row on the grid, with Sergio Perez's second Red Bull securing the fifth position.
Following a dominant performance throughout 2023, Verstappen's success in securing pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix marks the beginning of the 2024 Formula 1 season, setting elevated expectations for the year ahead. Surprisingly, even the seasoned driver did not anticipate this achievement, as he found the track's grip working to his advantage, enabling him to push his car to its limits.
Marko also highlighted the low track temperatures, explaining how Red Bull's superior performance was absent during the three practice sessions of the season opener. With the track temperature being five to six degrees lower, there were doubts about the Pirelli rubber offering enough grip to outpace the competition. In the end though, Verstappen worked it all out. Speaking to Motorsport-Magazin.com, the Red Bull advisor said:
"We realised here that our superior performance was no longer.
"We found out that the track temperature was five to six degrees lower and could not translate this one-to-one to the performance of the tyres. We worked on that for two practice days and eventually the Max factor came."
The closely contested battle for pole position creates an anticipation of a thrilling race, showcasing signs of multiple teams converging at the top. Considering Red Bull team principal's disclosure last year about the team entering a phase of diminishing returns in the current year, the question arises whether the team can replicate the dominance it exhibited in 2023.