Max Verstappen of the Red Bull Racing RB20 made his exit from the starting grid at the Australian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate, believes that Ferrari would not have won the race if Verstappen hadn’t retired. Verstappen started in pole position but had to end his race after four laps due to a problem with his right rear brake. Verstappen mentioned that the brake issue was present from the beginning, allowing Carlos Sainz to catch up and overtake him with the help of DRS on the second lap. Sainz went on to dominate the race and secure a 1-2 finish for Ferrari. Perez is certain that even Verstappen wouldn’t have been able to stop Ferrari’s victory. When asked about Ferrari’s chances without Verstappen’s retirement, Perez responded, “Absolutely. I think as a team, we simply didn’t have the speed today. We struggled throughout the entire weekend. We were already facing difficulties from Friday and we couldn’t find a solution to manage the tires.” Perez qualified in third place but was penalized for impeding Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, which made it challenging for him to improve his position during the race. He finished in fifth place. Perez acknowledged that the degradation of the RB20 car was a problem, especially on a track like Albert Park Circuit, which is front-limited. He said, “We were struggling from the beginning, and it was evident that Ferrari and McLaren were ahead of us. We couldn’t find the right balance, and there is work to be done for the upcoming races. Last year, we saw that Ferrari was much stronger than us on a front-limited track like Las Vegas, so we couldn’t take care of the front tires.” In addition to his grid penalty, Perez’s attempt to catch up to Verstappen was hindered when George Russell overtook him on the first lap. This delay in overtaking Russell caused Perez to lose valuable ground to the frontrunners, making it difficult for him to close the gap with the McLaren drivers ahead. Perez reflected on the race, saying, “The race would have looked different if we hadn’t been stuck behind Russell in the first stint. Losing the position to him was very damaging, and overall, it was a very disappointing weekend. We have a lot to analyze and understand.” After the race, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner revealed that a tear-off got stuck under Perez’s floor after he overtook Fernando Alonso.
Siegel's number 18 car already had a different design due to his major accident earlier in the week. Photo: Kevin DejewskiThe bump session for the Indy 500 on...
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