Dec.22 - Mercedes' driver lineup change for 2022 may actually make it easier for Max Verstappen to win back-to-back titles.

That is the view of Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, who was commenting on fellow Austrian Toto Wolff's decision to replace five-year Mercedes veteran Valtteri Bottas with young Williams charger Russell.

"First we need to see how fast Russell really is," Marko told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"In qualifying this year he was very good, but in the races he did not often outperform Nicholas Latifi. So we'll have to see how fast he is in the races.

"If he can really match Hamilton's speed, it could even help us."

Marko, the top Red Bull official alongside Christian Horner, also hit reverse gear on his earlier statement that Wolff is a "bad loser" for not quickly accepting title defeat this year.

"At first, the choice of words is perhaps a bit excessive," the 78-year-old told Servus TV.

"I'm not going on vacation with Toto, but he's doing a great job and in general we have mutual respect. And I try to get the best out of us too.

"Then there are these points of conflict here and there."

Marko thinks that despite the all-new regulations, Red Bull and Mercedes will continue to be closely matched in 2022.

"Max has already worked with the 2022 car in the simulator and he can handle the lack of stability at the rear," he said.

"He doesn't necessarily want the most comfortable car, but the fastest possible one we can build."

Here you can find the complete 2022 F1 drivers line-up.


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6 F1 Fan comments on “Marko says Russell could make winning next F1 title easier

  1. ReallyOldRacer

    Marko re Wolff: "Then there are these points of conflict here and there."

    Duh, ya' think? Let the head games begin. These guys are more fun than the races. :)

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  2. Jere Jyrälä

    Mercedes drivers taking points from each other is a possible scenario, but so is Merc getting the new aero rules better than RBR & thus enjoying some pace advantage, at least in early-season.

    Reply
  3. CanadianEh

    With the 2022 Rules being as transformative as they are advertised to be, we should be able to look forward to good hard racing in 2022.

    All teams have an engineering brain-trust that is paid top-dollar to come up with innovative and original designs to meet the reg's.

    I have a sneaking suspicion that MB won't be the only fast chassis out there. Count on Ferrari, Red Bull and certainly Williams to come out swingin'.

    It would be outstanding to have a four-way, well-matched battle for the WDC and Constructors championship. Ricciardo is due for a WDC - and he's every bit as good as Max or Sir Spamalot. Sainz is a loose cannon at Ferrari. Then, if Alonso and Vettel also have hot cars, it'll be a regular demolition-derby.

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  4. shroppyfly

    The Fia not only have new car regs for 22 , but they've promised to re do the rules surrounding Hamilton-gate , trouble is they haven't 12mths to get that right , less than 3 in fact , which isn't long at all,and that's IF teams /fia agree on new Regs...bit of a nightmare

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  5. CanadianEh

    Here we have a bunch of left-wing EU types, wanting to regulate a sport in a manner that prevents 'out-of-the-box' thinking. To prevent the kind of fast-paced decision making Masi had to engage in almost, quite literally, during the last seconds of the race.

    Was he going to make everyone happy? Of course not! But the rules allowed him the freedom, the wiggle-room, to make as good a call as he was able to, under the circumstances.

    So now, let's remove any freedom of movement and build a rigid regulatory environment that'll piss everyone off, except for the morons that want and push for these new rules.

    Step back, and take a deep breath. Calm down and learn from the events, but don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

    Reply

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