Max Verstappen encountered his first race retirement in two years during the Australian Grand Prix due to a brake malfunction.
The Dutch driver hinted that Red Bull had begun noticing irregularities with his car on Saturday during the Australian Grand Prix, preceding his premature exit from the race. Verstappen’s stint in his RB20 lasted only a few laps before a critical brake malfunction compelled him to head back to the pit lane.
Despite securing pole position ahead of Carlos Sainz, he was overtaken early on and soon witnessed smoke emanating from his right rear brake, eventually leading to a fire.
This non-finish marked Verstappen’s first absence from the Formula 1 grid since retiring from the same race in 2022 at the Albert Park Circuit. However, the signs of trouble were apparent to Red Bull even before the race day in Melbourne.
“I think we saw already some signs on Saturday, where things were maybe not looking like they should have done,” Verstappen told the media. “Now in hindsight, you can say that it was coming from the brake caliper but we couldn’t find any fault with the car.”
Despite the disappointment of the Did Not Finish (DNF) result, Verstappen maintains his position at the top of the championship standings, having clinched victory in the opening two races leading up to the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Verstappen, holding a slender four-point lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, expressed confidence that the issue won’t be recurring. “It’s always bad to retire of course,” he acknowledged.
“But when you have a fault in maybe the build spec or whatever, then it’s a bit worse. We’ll just move on from there and learn from it, that it doesn’t happen again. But normally, it shouldn’t.”
