Red Bull can find solace in one silver lining following Max Verstappen’s unfortunate retirement in Australia, which brought a halt to incessant speculations.
Verstappen’s abrupt exit from the Australian Grand Prix, occurring on the third lap due to a rear brake malfunction on his RB20, dashed hopes of him surpassing his record of 10 consecutive race victories just as he approached the milestone.
Throughout 2023, Red Bull established itself as an unstoppable force, clinching victory after victory, thereby igniting the prospect of conquering every race on the calendar—a feat unprecedented in Formula 1 history.
The closest comparison dates back to McLaren’s 1988 campaign, where they secured victory in 15 out of 16 races. However, Red Bull’s winning streak was disrupted only in the 15th race of 2023, failing to unleash the full potential of the RB19 on the streets of Singapore, resulting in victory for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
This setback marked Red Bull’s sole defeat in 2023, with 21 wins out of 22 races, yielding a marginally higher win percentage (95.45 percent) compared to McLaren’s 1988 achievement (93.75 percent).
As Red Bull dominated with 1-2 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to commence the 2024 season, the prospect of surpassing or equaling their previous record could have loomed over the team for the entirety of the year.
However, Verstappen’s premature departure ended any hopes of achieving an unbeaten season. Helmut Marko, in response, is latching onto this silver lining, expressing relief that the issue was “resolved” so early in the season.
“Until the retirement, the atmosphere in the team was as I know it, full of fighting spirit,” he stated.
“After that we were a bit sad, but at least we are no longer constantly being asked whether we will win all the races. I’m glad that this issue was resolved so early on.”
Marko further elaborated that Verstappen was greatly frustrated by the DNF, especially considering he had endured a challenging start to the weekend before bouncing back to secure pole position with an outstanding performance in Q3.
“In the last 24 hours on the flight home from Australia to Europe, I had enough time to think about the last time we were stranded due to technical problems,” he stated.
“In fact, it must have been in 2022! We still have to find out exactly what caused Max’s brake failure, as the majority of the team is still scattered around the world back from Melbourne.
“Unfortunately, our weekend in Australia didn’t get off to a good start in practice. We were clearly behind. There was no sign of the superiority we had in the first two races.
“The fact that we still managed to do so well in qualifying with first place for Max and sixth for Checo [Perez] was a fantastic team performance.
“In the race, Max said he could have easily matched Sainz’s pace at the front. That’s why he was disappointed and annoyed about the retirement.”
In the wake of Ferrari and Sainz seizing the opportunity presented by Red Bull’s setbacks to clinch another victory, Red Bull chief Christian Horner labeled the Spaniard as Red Bull’s nemesis.
Marko echoed this sentiment, affirming that it’s evident Ferrari stands as the primary rival for Red Bull to contend with currently.
“Nevertheless, the great balance of power was confirmed in Australia: Ferrari is the clear number 2 behind us,” he stated.
“Mercedes is inconsistent, McLaren works better or worse depending on the track.”
