Verstappen said he lost a chance at a "easy P2" finish after retiring on Lap 39 in Melbourne, and that he was "miles behind" championship leader Charles Leclerc.
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Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner expressed his sympathies with reigning champion Max Verstappen after the Dutchman described his retirement from the Australian Grand Prix as “unacceptable,” with the lack of a result putting a major dent in his chances of retaining the title at this early stage. Verstappen said he lost a chance at a “easy P2” finish after retiring on Lap 39 in Melbourne, and that he was “miles behind” championship leader Charles Leclerc – who won for the second time in three races, with the fastest lap point to boot – with Verstappen now P6 in the standings and 46 points behind the Monegasque.
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“It’s totally understandable, his frustration. That was a really disappointing result not to finish the race. We don’t know what the issue is yet, I don’t think it was actually engine-related, I think it might be a fuel issue, but we need to get the car back, we need to look at what’s exactly happened,” the Red Bull boss said.
“Until we get the car back, we don’t have the data, we don’t have the info. But desperately frustrating. I think as Max said, we didn’t have the pace to race Charles today – [Ferrari] were in a league of their own. But it’s frustrating not to be bagging those points,” he added.
After Verstappen’s retirement, teammate Sergio Perez rescued P2 for the team, despite the Mexican’s DNF in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix alongside Verstappen. Red Bull is now third in the standings, behind Mercedes, due to reliability issues.
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“Checo drove an exceptional race today with some stunning overtakes to secure his first podium of the season and bag some solid championship points,” Horner said. “But it was very much a day of mixed emotions with Max not finishing. But we are in this as a team, and we will bounce back. It’s a long season ahead and we have the basis of a quick and competitive car, but we need to get on top of these issues quickly and we will keep pushing.”
