The Australian Grand Prix was another disappointing race for Red Bull and even more disappointing for world champion Max Verstappen who had to retire early after engine problems ruined his race with 19 laps remaining.
The retirement saw title rival Charles Leclerc extend his lead at the top of the driver’s standings. Max Verstappen is now 46 points behind the leader after having two retirements in the three races.
Verstappen has now gained 0 points for the second time in three races and has dropped to 6th in the driver’s championship, behind the likes of Mercedes' drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who seem to still be having issues of their own.
Championship leader Charles Leclerc won in Melbourne by an astonishing 22-second margin beating Max Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez who came second.
Max Verstappen spoke with the media after the race and seemed frustrated with his Red Bulls engine problems that forced him to retire. “We are already miles behind, so I don’t even want to think about the championship fight at the moment,” Verstappen said.
Ferrari are 39 points clear of second-place Mercedes in the constructor’s championship with Red Bull currently in 3rd place, 10 points behind the Silver Arrows.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suspects that the fuel problem that caused the retirement of both Red Bull cars in Bahrain, was the same problem Verstappen faced at Albert Park.
Horner told Sky Sports “we expected to be a lot closer to Ferrari in pace and they were untouchable today so congratulations to them,” he went on to say, “but we obviously have some work to do.”
When talking about the Red Bulls issues Horner said, “I don't think it's actually engine related. I think it might be a fuel issue, but we need to get the car back and be able to look at exactly what has happened.”
“Until we get the car back we don't have the data and we don't have the info. it's desperately frustrating. I think as Max said we didn't have the pace to race Charles today, they were in a league of their own.”
With Red Bull’s current issues, space has opened for the likes of Mercedes and McLaren who seem to be taking full advantage.
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