Helmut Marko has admitted Red Bull's "depressing" race pace in F1's Miami Grand Prix was worse than expected after Max Verstappen slumped to a distant fourth place.
Verstappen defeated Lando Norris to pole on Saturday, but after rubbing elbows with the Briton at the start, which dropped Norris back to sixth, the reigning world champion was powerless to resist either McLaren driver. First Piastri and then Norris romped past the Red Bull driver to take a dominant 1-2 win for the papaya squad.
Verstappen rued a lack of grip that saw him cede around seven tenths per lap to the McLarens, while he was unlucky to lose third to George Russell as the Mercedes man made a less costly pitstop under a mid-race virtual safety car.
But on harder tyres Verstappen then couldn't manage to overtake Russell during the second stint, and eventually he finished fourth a whopping 40 seconds behind Piastri, who snared his third consecutive win.
When quizzed shortly after the finish by Motorsport.com, team advisor Marko said he was surprised by the sobering picture for Red Bull in race trim, admitting the seven-tenth deficit to McLaren was "depressing".
"The main conclusion is we are too slow," the Austrian said. "We saw when they were driving flat out, we are seven tenths of a second behind. We saw the real speed for the first time."
"We have to find some performance straight away, but it was depressing how quick the McLarens really are."
Red Bull is expected to unleash further upgrades at the next race in Imola following the introduction of a new floor for Verstappen. However, Marko acknowledged it would be tough to overcome McLaren's race pace advantage, which appears much bigger on circuits that feature tyre overheating.
Asked if the next upgrade package would be enough, he replied: "It has to [be], but such a big step is difficult to catch up."
