The Red Bull Formula 1 team admits Max Verstappen’s retirement from the Australian Grand Prix prevented it from validating if it had cured its race-pace concerns.
The Austrian outfit continued its dominance into the first races of the 2024 campaign with Verstappen leading consecutive 1-2 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
But Red Bull seemed to be lagging behind pacesetters Ferrari through practice at Albert Park until some minor tweaks to his RB20 spurred Verstappen to pole position.
However, the Dutchman’s chances of converting that into a record-equalling 10th straight win were ended when a stuck right-rear brake forced him to retire on Lap 4.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez, who was demoted three places to sixth for impeding, was hampered when a visor tear-off from Fernando Alonso got lodged under his floor.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has revealed it was optimistic about a competitive showing in race conditions following the fixes it had put in place to counter its woes.
“I think we did struggle on Friday I thought the team did a great recovery and Max did a stunning job in qualifying yesterday and we’d started to work out the issues and certainly on the laps to the grid we did I think four laps to the grid, he was reporting he was he was really quite happy with the balance of the car,” Horner explained.
“So we never got to see the answers to had we solved those issues.
“I think it was undeniable that Ferrari had been very, very strong this weekend, and congratulations to Carlos [Sainz] on losing an appendix and winning very dominantly here.
“So obviously frustrating to be out on Lap 4 with Max.”
“Could have, would have, should have, you never know,” Horner responded when asked how the battle at the sharp end would have looked with Verstappen involved.
“But the only feedback that we got was his laps to the grid that he felt the car was good and he managed to pull out a second pretty quick on the first lap to Carlos.
“But the Ferrari were quick this weekend and take nothing away from them they deserve their victory today and Carlos drove a very good race.”
Horner also denied the proposal that Red Bull had sacrificed long-run pace to be stronger over a single lap and gain track position amid high degradation concerns.
“I don’t think so I think that we managed to work out where some of the issues were in quali and I think it’s a shame we didn’t get to see how did that look,” he added.
“I mean Carlos in particular that middle stint was pretty impressive and of course it’s all when you see an advantage like that that’s all about keeping the tyre in very good condition.”
Ferrari’s 1-2 and the fastest lap handed it a maximum haul of 44 points, bringing it to within four points of Red Bull, who added 10 through Perez’s fifth-place finish.
Asked whether he considered it a two-horse race between Red Bull and Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, Horner responded: “I think Ferrari [is] a strong team, they’ve got two strong drivers, they’ve got a decent car, so we’ve had a tough day today they’ve capitalized on that, so it’s closed everything up again. But there’s 21 races to go.”
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