Max Verstappen shared an insight into possible early signs of mechanical issues which caused his DNF at the Australian GP.
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO), Max Verstappen suffering from a Brake Failure (via F1).
The Australian GP witnessed Max Verstappen‘s first retirement from a race in over 2 years. The three-time world champion’s race ended due to rear-brake issues with the Dutchman returning to the pits on the third lap. Ahead of the Japanese GP, Verstappen revealed that there were some early signs of the problem.
Max Verstappen admitted that there was something unusual going on with his car on Saturday at Albert Park. The Dutchman mentioned that things were not looking how they should’ve done following his pole position for the Grand Prix.
I think we saw already some signs on Saturday, where things were maybe not looking like they should have done, Now in hindsight, you can say that it was coming from the brake caliper but we couldn’t find any fault with the car.
Max Verstappen told Racingnews365
Max Verstappen spoke about reliability issues during the drivers’ press conference in Japan.
Verstappen claimed that in hindsight, it was clear that it was a failure of the brakes. However, Red Bull did not understand this fault on time.. However, the reigning world champion seemed calm about the situation and was looking forward to regaining the top step of the podium in Japan.
Max Verstappen shares insight into Red Bull’s reliability in Japan
Max Verstappen remains the championship leader despite his DNF in Melbourne, leading Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by 4 points. The Dutchman will cannot afford more retirements this season with the Scuderia potentially matching the performance of the RB20 on some circuits.
The three-time world champion was asked about Red Bull’s reliability. Verstappen answered the question by saying how Red Bull as a cohesive team looked thoroughly into the matter. As such, reliability issues shouldn’t hopefully be repeated again for the Austrian team. The Dutchman highlighted the fact that Milton Keynes did not face such reliability issues often.
It’s always bad to retire of course. 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.Max Verstappen stated
Max Verstappen has shown complete faith in Milton Keynes after the reliability issue at Albert Park. The three-time world champions remains confident about his prospects of winning a fourth consecutive title this season. However, things could become difficult for Red Bull if the likes of Ferrari and McLaren put up a real fight over the course of the year.
