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Red Bull's reliability woes have caught the team by surprise. Max Verstappen, the reigning champion, has suffered two DNFs in three races, both related to some sort of power unit failure. Even more alarming for the team than the reliability issues has been the unannounced nature in which the DNFs have happened.
The DNF in Australia for Verstappen happened all of a sudden and there were no signs of why that happened. The slight cluelessness from the team as to why it happened has left the paddock wondering whether it does not have a clear idea of what the issue is. Former GP2 champion and F1 pundit Davide Valsecchi certainly feels the same.
Speaking about the reliability issues faced by the team, Valsecchi said:
“We struggle to understand the details of the power unit and their problems because they are never clear in disclosing them. They have already replaced many engine parts at AlphaTauri, as well as to [Sergio] Perez in Bahrain and to [Max] Verstappen today [in Australia] and in Bahrain. From the outside, you can see they are having a lot of problems. The farewell of Honda is a huge weight. The transition brings some difficulties, maybe Red Bull don’t have the knowledge. The team may not be blended well. Way too many problems.”
Valsecchi also touched on a rather strange drop in performance for the team in the race when compared to Ferrari and Mercedes. Max Verstappen was more than half a second slower than Charles Leclerc in the race, the kind of gap that wasn't seen before this season.
The Italian said:
“The difference between Ferrari and Red Bull in the race was greater than we had seen on Friday. Mercedes were also closer to Red Bull than Red Bull were to Ferrari. This is a surprise.”
Red Bull's Max Verstappen facing a 46-point deficit to Charles Leclerc
After two DNFs in three races, Max Verstappen faces a 46-point deficit against Charles Leclerc. Leclerc has two wins and a second-place finish in Saudi Arabia to his name. Verstappen, on the other hand, won the Saudi Arabian GP and suffered DNFs in Australia and Bahrain.
The DNF in Australia was later attributed to a hydraulic issue faced by the power unit and left Verstappen with only 25 points to his name. The Dutchman has an uphill battle to climb as his car is not only slower than the Ferrari at the moment but also highly unreliable as well.
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