Image Credits - Japan Times
Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen failed to complete the Australian GP on Sunday. He was in 2nd place after a reliability issue forced him out of the race on Lap 38.
Charles Leclerc clinched a rather comfortable victory at the Australian Grand Prix but the Ferarri driver may not have had it so straightforward if Max Verstappen hadn’t retired on Lap 40. The Dutchman was a few seconds behind Leclerc towards the final third of the race but he was then told to stop towards the side of the track after an issue with his car. There was also a small fire spotted at the rear of his car.
Verstappen’s DNF meant that Leclerc had the opportunity to extend his lead in the Drivers’ standings and the Monegasque is now 46 points ahead of the Dutchman after three rounds. But the defending champion is now more concerned about completing races than winning them.
After a disappointing Australian GP, Verstappen highlighted that it was ‘unacceptable’ for him not to finish the race on Sunday. The 24-year-old also admitted that his car didn’t have the pace to challenge the Ferrari all the way but a P2 finish was certainly on the cards.
“Of course, today was in general a bad day again. Not really having the pace, I was just managing my tyres to bring it to the end. It looked like an easy P2 anyway and I knew I could not fight Charles so there was no point in trying to put pressure on him. We didn’t even finish the race so it is pretty frustrating and unacceptable.” explained Verstappen.
It was the second time in the opening three races that Verstappen failed to cross the chequered flag. The reigning world champion had a torrid start to the season in Bahrain when his Red Bull was forced to retire due to a fuel pump issue. His teammate Perez also suffered the same fate on the last lap of the race in Bahrain.
If Red Bull are to challenge Ferrari, they need to ensure that their issues with the car are fixed. Verstappen managed to win the only race he finished this season but the team got zero points from the Dutchman in the other two races.
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