Max Verstappen has suffered two DNFs in the first three races of the 2022 season and admitted that his Title hopes are out of the window.
While many people argued that Red Bull would struggle without the Honda engine that guided them to Title victory in 2021, team boss Christian Horner was confident that they would be fine.
Now, just three races into the 2022 season, Red Bull Powertrains’ engine seems to have an awful lot of reliability issues. In terms of pace, the RB-18 is close to that of the Ferraris, but their power-unit durability has been an Achilles heel for them so far.
Gutted. Very frustrating to end another race like this as we were looking at an easy P2 😤
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
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 10, 2022
In the first race of the season, both Verstappen and Sergio Perez had to retire their car due to fuel pump issues. They bounced back in Jeddah, with the former winning the Gran Prix. However, in last week’s Australian GP, the Dutch driver had to retire his car yet again, through no fault of his own.
Verstappen came into the season with hopes of defending his World Title. If he continues to have engine issues like these in the remaining 20 races, he stands no chance against a dominant Ferrari and Charles Leclerc.
Also read: Red Bull chief admits he expected a much ‘calmer’ Max Verstappen following his 2021 World Title win
Red Bull not being on the right track is surprising, says Max Verstappen
Verstappen has spent his entire F1 career within the Red Bull ranks. After his Championship win last season, he committed to the Milton-Keynes outfit with a multi-year bumper deal.
However, coming on the back of a stellar 2021 campaign, Verstappen finds it surprising that his team is struggling so much. He admits that his Title hopes look bleak, and that the reliability woes will prevent him from challenging Leclerc.
“The car just isn’t good enough,” he said. “Not if you look at the reliability and not if you look at the balance.”
“Obviously it’s a long season with 20 races to go, but at the moment I think I’d need 45 to have another chance, I’m too far behind in the championship. 46 points. We need to get faster and we need to get more reliable. I’m not thinking about the championship.”
“It does surprise me, that we are not on the right track,” he added. “It doesn’t look like there’s a clear-cut solution to it either, so we have a lot of work to do. Ferrari is a lot better than us in many areas.”
The F1 season resumes in two weeks time, when all teams travel to Imola for the 2022 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
