F1: Red Bull title challenge must start at the ‘very first race’, says Marko

Marko: no more excuses

Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko says the team will have “no more excuses” as they bid to challenge for the 2020 Formula 1 world titles.

Max Verstappen and Alex Albon continue their partnership in the Honda-powered Red Bull cars. And Marko believes that Honda’s “gains” in 2020 mean there will be pressure on the team to challenge for both championships.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, he said: “We want to fight for the championship and to do so we know that we have to be competitive with the chassis right from the start - and that means the very first race.

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“Honda has good increases for this year. And since everything has been fulfilled so far, we assume that this will happen.

“That means we have no more excuses, in plain English.”

The 2020 F1 season starts in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday 15 March.

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F1 auction will raise money for Australia

A number of special lots are on offer in a special F1 charity auction to raise money for the Australian bushfire appeal.

Lots include meet and greets with Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr, and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez.

Four charities - Red Cross Australia; Country Fire Authority Victoria; Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal; WWF Australian Wildlife and Nature Recovery - will benefit from the proceeds of the auction.

For more details about the charity auction see f1authentics.com

Racing Point launch date is teased

Racing Point will unveil their 2020 car - the RP20 - on 17 February. They become the sixth F1 team to confirm the launch date of their challenger.

2020 F1 car launch dates

• Ferrari: 11 February
• Renault: 12 February
• McLaren: 13 February
• Mercedes: 14 February
• Alpha Tauri: 14 February
• Racing Point: 17 February

Drive to Survive returns to Netflix

F1 and Box to Box Films have confirmed that the second season of the popular Formula 1: Drive To Survive series will return to Netflix on 28 February.

The new run of episodes goes behind the scenes of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season and features all ten teams.

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