At the time of his retirement, Verstappen was in second place, well behind the Ferrari of race leader Charles Leclerc. Suddenly, Verstappen’s engine faltered and the world champion had to stop his car along the track, after which he immediately asked his team over the on-board radio if he should grab a fire extinguisher. Apparently he smelled a burning smell. Once it came to a stop, flames shot out of his engine.
It was apparent before the race that Red Bull was not completely reassured about the technical status of Verstappen’s car. Racing Federation FIA shared a list of seven parts that had been replaced in Verstappen’s car during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Most parts were related to the gearbox.
It is still unclear whether the gearbox was also the reason for its failure. It is certain that Verstappen will in any case leave Australia without points. Although the season is longer than ever with no fewer than 23 races, he does not seem to be able to afford another failure in the remainder of the year. At the opening race in Bahrain, Verstappen retired due to problems with the fuel supply to his engine.
In comparison: last year, in his title year, Verstappen never dropped out due to problems with his engine. In addition, world championships in current Formula 1 are decided more than ever by consistency. The world champions of the past few years have experienced very few unnecessary points loss.
Verstappen already had a difficult weekend in Australia. After qualifying, he said he hadn’t driven ‘a single lap’ comfortably yet, because he was unable to find a nice balance in his car.