F1 | Australian GP | Horner after Verstappen's DNF: "His frustration is totally understandable"
Christian Horner commented on Max Verstappen's words after his second DNF of the season. He said that it was a really disappointing result to not finish the race, and added that the problem might be fuel related.
It hasn't certainly been a good start to the season for Red Bull, with the Honda engine failing already several times. It had happened during the first race in Bahrain, which had seen both Verstappen and Perez forced to retire, and it happened today to the Dutchman, even if due to a different engine issue.
Heartbreak for Max Verstappen in Australia 💔
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 10, 2022
An podium opportunity missed for the Dutchman after a strong showing ended prematurely with a car problem 😫#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/DXeOAe1r4X
According to reports from Red Bull, the problem that forced Verstappen to stop, during the Australian GP, was due to a fuel leak on the car, something different from the problem of the Bahrain fuel block.
The race pace of the Austrian team was not as good as that of Ferrari - which showed great speed and reliability - but Verstappen still gave Leclerc a hard time during both restarts after the two Safety cars happened. Despite the first position missed, it was quite certain that the Dutchman could finish the race in second position, taking home some important points for both the drivers 'and constructors' world championship, given Carlos Sainz’s DNF.
After the race Verstappen expressed all his frustration, saying that if you fight for the title, these situations of poor reliability cannot happen:
"I knew there was a problem, and it was always going to be a case of trying to finish the race. But these kinds of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen," he stated.
Christian Horner understands his driver’s frustration, already forced to retire twice when the car was giving excellent signals, and had the opportunity to score important points.
"It is totally understandable, his frustration,” Red Bull’s team principal said to Sky Sports.
“That was a really disappointing result to not finish the race.
"We don't know what the issue is yet, but we don't think it is an engine issue - we think it actually might be fuel related. But we need to get the car back and look at what actually is happening.
"Desperately frustrating, as Max said; we didn't have the pace to race Ferrari today, they were in a league of their own and disappointing to not be in the points."
Gutted. Very frustrating to end another race like this as we were looking at an easy P2 😤
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 10, 2022
Congrats to @SChecoPerez on scoring another podium. 💪
We have to work hard the coming days to get on top of things and improve for Imola. pic.twitter.com/6hEUlkvwZK
