SUMMARY
- Red Bull Racing faces disappointment as both drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, underperform at the Australian Grand Prix.
- Perez believes Ferrari would have won regardless, backing Sainz's swift victory after surgery.
Red Bull Racing endured a disappointing weekend with underperformance from both drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Despite clinching second place in qualifying, Perez was later penalized three grid positions. The woes continued as Verstappen retired at Lap 3 during the race on March 24 at Albert Park Circuit. Due to a technical issue, the reigning champion failed to maintain his winning streak.
However, Perez holds firm in his belief that Ferrari would have clinched victory at Melbourne regardless of Max Verstappen’s premature exit. When this question came up during an interaction with the media, Perez stated, “Absolutely yes.” Seizing the opportunity created by Verstappen’s absence, Carlos Sainz swiftly claimed victory merely days after his appendicitis surgery.
This emergency compelled the Spanish driver to miss the Jeddah race, with Oliver Bearman stepping in. Sainz’s victory at the Australian Grand Prix marked his first since the Singapore Grand Prix. Nonetheless, Sergio Perez faced unfortunate circumstances in Melbourne as the looming possibility of being replaced at Red Bull cast a shadow over him.
Lack of pace: Sergio Perez admits Red Bull couldn’t win at Australia
Despite the Mexican’s fifth-place finish, trailing McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, Sainz’s triumph highlighted Ferrari’s dominance. During his conversation with Sky Sports, Perez revealed, “I think we struggled early on. We could see Ferrari and McLaren were a step ahead of us. We couldn’t get the balance into the window. There’s some work to do for the coming races.”
📰: “Just as a team, we didn’t have the pace today”
Sergio Perez concedes that even if Max Verstappen had remained in the race, Ferrari would still have emerged victorious.#F1 #AusGP
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) March 24, 2024
The 34-year-old driver went on to add, “It was a very unique tarmac and throughout the weekend we were not able to manage the best possible grip level. Just as a team we didn’t have the pace throughout the weekend. We were struggling already from Friday and never got on top of the management of tires. We just have to understand and improve.”
The Austrian team had a lot of confidence in the RB20, but recent developments could erode the trust of its drivers. Red Bull aims to recreate their dominance from the 2023 season, with Ferrari posing as a significant obstacle to their championship aspirations this year.
Horner confirms DNF cause, reveals Perez’s car damage
Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner provided insights into the issue that led to the Dutch driver’s early retirement at the Albert Park Circuit. On the very second lap, Verstappen yielded a lead against Sainz followed by an unexpected mechanical problem that forced him out of the race just two laps later.
This technical issue was apparent when smoke emanated from the rear of Verstappen’s car, forcing him to limp back to the pits, resulting in his first DNF in two years. According to Horner, “It’s a brake issue and it looked like it was on since the start of the race which is why Max described it as like having a handbrake. That caused him to have a couple of moments as the heat was building and building and the result is a fire.”
A fiery end to Max Verstappen’s race 🔥#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/Gu6PWdqFTj
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 24, 2024
The British team boss clarified that Sergio Perez’s poor showing was also due to a certain damage in his car. Horner stated, “He’s probably not aware from it but he picked up some damage and lost a significant amount of downforce from the floor of the car when he passed Fernando. As soon as you get that, your tire deg gets worse. We were just not good at the end of the stints.”
Ironically, the reigning champion was plagued by similar issues during the Australian GP of 2022. Keeping the tragedies aside, Horner went on to congratulate Sainz for his outstanding performance during the race.