Helmut Marko addresses what’s ‘not true’ about Adrian Newey’s departure impacting Red Bull

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Red Bull left the Italian Grand Prix as the fourth-fastest car when Max Verstappen finished in sixth and over 30 seconds behind eventual winner Charles Leclerc.

The team was facing trouble from the get-go at Monza, as they struggled to match either McLaren or Ferrari on race pace, while Mercedes was also not far off their performance.

In the all-important speed traps Red Bull was the slowest, an alarming stat for Red Bull considering the next event is the Azerbaijan GP which features one of the longest straights on the calendar.

Christian Horner cast a downbeat figure after Verstappen and Sergio Perez qualified in seventh and eighth on Saturday, admitting Red Bull has got to come up with an ‘engineering solution’ to their problems.

Nico Rosberg suggested that the departure of Adrian Newey is leading to a ‘brain drain’ at Red Bull, but team advisor Helmut Marko has addressed this when writing in his column for Speedweek.

Helmut Marko says Red Bull car development not impacted by Adrian Newey leaving

Red Bull’s advantage in the Constructors’ Championship has been significantly slashed after Monza, with McLaren now only eight points behind. Verstappen also faces a battle to keep his lead in the Drivers’ Championship, having last won a race in June at the Spanish GP.

Marko is optimistic the team can turn things around and he caveats that while Newey is an influence that is being missed, he is not the problem that they face with the RB20.

“Fans are circulating the opinion that our relapse has something to do with Adrian Newey’s departure. But that is not true. Newey was no longer involved in all the details of vehicle development in the spring,” said Marko.

“This cannot be denied: Newey is Newey, a man with incredible experience, which has always distinguished him. But our problem lies elsewhere. The examples of Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Ferrari have shown how difficult teams are when dealing with these wing cars.

“But I remain optimistic: we have a very broad technical team and I am convinced that we can solve this problem.”

Christian Horner looked ‘very concerned’ at Monza

There is no doubt that Red Bull’s current position has left Horner, Marko and Verstappen wondering if they will be able to defend both titles this season.

Horner looked ‘very concerned’ after Verstappen failed to improve his lap times during Monza qualifying and was six-tenths off the pace, while there were deep discussions in the Red Bull garage.

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A senior member of the Red Bull team has reportedly already conceded that the Constructors’ title is over and that the focus has turned to defending Verstappen’s crown.

Now the team faces a race against time to fix their problems and get their championship back on track with eight races left on the calendar.