Red Bull F1’s Helmut Marko to Lead Protest Against Ferrari Engine Legality

A few weeks ago, the FIA responded to complaints about Scuderia Ferrari’s sudden surge in pace. Following an investigation, they cleared the Italian marquee of any wrongdoing. However, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko is not convinced about Ferrari’s innocence.

Instead, he demanded some form of clarity from the FIA ​​about the Ferrari engine. Ever since the summer break, Scuderia Ferrari suddenly emerged as the team to beat in the pace department. As a result, a number of teams smelt a rat, because the Scuderia seems to have a huge power advantage.

Admittedly, the Maranello outfit were already quick in the first half of the 2019 F1 season. However, once the summer break ended, they turned it up to 11 and Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were nearly unstoppable. One of their greatest strengths is in qualifying, as evidenced by six consecutive pole positions.

The performance of the upgraded Ferrari engine evoked a lot of suspicion from their rivals. Several teams even asked the FIA ​​for clarification about the source of all that power.

They suspected that some fluid from the intercooler was being leaked into the engine to improve performance. While the Red Bull top brass stayed silent on his suspicions, he wanted clarity about the legality of the power source.

“The extraordinary performance increase at Ferrari is a different story. I’d rather not say anything about the suspicions. However, if you look at the step they have taken and how fast they are now … It is striking that an engine can do so much better are then the rest. Let’s wait and see what happens, but the FIA ​​must clarify this,” he admitted to Autosport.

“In the races we are at the Mercedes level. We only miss a qualifying mode. Honda has delivered what they promised. Maybe even more. In terms of reliability, we have no problems at all, because we have not had any defects in the engines We are more than satisfied with the cooperation. What is planned for next year makes us very satisfied.”