Red Bull Racing ended the Formula 1 Australian GP with mixed feelings, after Max Verstappen recovered positions impressively, finishing in sixth place, and Isack Hadjar was forced to retire in the early laps.
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Verstappen evaluated his race highlighting the initial difficulty and the team’s performance: “The first laps were quite chaotic and we needed to stay out of trouble. I had some issues at the start with the battery, so as soon as I released the clutch, I had no power, something we need to understand. Then we managed to move through the field relatively cleanly, made some good overtakes and learned a bit about what we could do. Unfortunately we had too much degradation and the tire behavior was surprising, with a lot of graining on the hard compound, which compromised the stints and prevented us from fighting for more positions. We tried everything at the end to gain one more position, but when we got close, my tires were gone. Overall, the team did a great job and it was a good recovery coming from 20th position, and we will work together to close the gap even further,” the Dutchman stated.
Hadjar, for his part, lamented the premature retirement: “Today was frustrating. I was confident we could fight for the podium, so this result is a shame. I felt very strong at the start, but unfortunately the problem appeared immediately. Reliability during the weekend was good, but the race is different and I felt there was a problem very early on. The car was making a strange noise and I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish. It’s frustrating, but these things can happen, and we are at the beginning of our journey. We are heading quickly to China and I am confident we will learn from this,” he added.
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Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies commented on the results and the importance of the weekend: “This was a very important weekend for Formula 1, the first race of a new era for the category. With such radical changes in the technical rules, some retirements were inevitable, and it’s a shame that Isack retired, after having secured third place on the starting grid. Looking on the bright side, the three remaining cars with Red Bull Powertrains-Ford power units completed the race, two of them in the top 10. And, in case anyone needs to be reminded of how exceptional Max is, he put in a fantastic performance, going from 20th on the grid to sixth place. We collected a lot of data this weekend, which we will use effectively in China next week. This was certainly a race of learning and development for us, and we know we can count on everyone in Milton Keynes to take us to the next level,” the Red Bull boss concluded.
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