Helmut Marko says that Ferrari has the fastest car and power unit at present, whilst also expressing his view that the rivalry between the two teams won’t escalate as it did in 2021 with Mercedes.

The opening two races of a brand new season have seen Ferrari and Red Bull share the spoils, with Charles Leclerc leading home a Ferrari 1-2 in Bahrain before Max Verstappen hit back for Red Bull with victory in Jeddah after a nail-biting dual between the pair that saw them swap first and second places for several laps.

Verstappen’s win came off the back of a nightmare season opener in Bahrain, which saw him and teammate Sergio Perez retire with a fuel pressure failure late in the race, with the reigning World champion moving up to third in the championship standings as a result of his victory. Leclerc remains out in front in the drivers’ standings, with the Monegasque holding a 12 point lead over his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr going into Australia.

Marko, when speaking to Austrian TV channel Servus TV believes that not only does Ferrari have a more straightforward car to drive, but they also have the best power unit on the grid.

“The advantage of Ferrari is they are fast straight away with every tyre and at every temperature. That shows the car is more good-natured. We have perhaps the more difficult car – a prima donna. But if you can get it right, the potential is there.”

“Ferrari are ahead. Honda – or rather Red Bull Powertrains – are second. And Mercedes, unusually, only third. Ferrari have an advantage, especially in electrical power, and that’s where we hope Honda will follow suit.”

But Marko isn’t counting Mercedes out just yet despite the reigning constructors’ championships having an unusually challenging start to the new campaign, which has seen them struggle for pace against Ferrari and Red Bull.

“Chassis-wise, Mercedes have the most’ bounce’, you can see that in the braking zone how (Lewis) Hamilton’s head wobbles back and forth. Mercedes is at least half a second too slow at the moment, but who knows, they might be able to solve their problems. We don’t sleep either. We work hard to further develop the car.”

The new developing rivalry between Leclerc and Verstappen gave viewers a dazzling display of hard but fair racing between the pair, with Leclerc pulling the dummy on Verstappen into Turn 27, forcing him into a massive lockup that cost the Dutchman time.

Marko is of the opinion that the rivalry between the two teams won’t escalate as vehemently as it did with Mercedes in 2021. 

“It’s a new rivalry. I think it’s better to fight with Leclerc and Ferrari than with Mercedes. It is now more on a sporting level. I know we’ve only had two races, but I don’t think it will escalate as much as it did with Mercedes.”

“This was one of the best races I have seen in the last ten years; if Max sees his chance, he’ll go for it; his overtaking is incredible.

“In addition, we decided on Friday to use a smaller rear wing so that we had more top speed. The handicap was that we lost a few tenths in the first sector. Fortunately, it fell our way.”