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Max Verstappen explained the issue with his Red Bull RB20 that forced him to retire from the 2024 F1 Australian GP.
The defending world champion took pole position at Albert Park on Saturday, only to retire from the Grand Prix on Sunday due to his right rear brakes heating up. With Verstappen out, Ferrari took charge and bagged a 1-2 podium finish in the Australian GP. This DNF ensured that the Dutchman would not complete the streak of winning 10 consecutive races for the second time.
After his exit from the race, Verstappen told Sky Sports that his brakes were stuck after the race started. He explained that the stuck rear right brake kept building heat over time, leading to it catching fire. The issue forced the Dutch driver to retire the car. He said:
"It is unfortunate about what happened today, but we can see so far in the data that as soon as the lights went off, the right rear brake just stuck on and locked. It was basically like driving with the hand brake on, so, of course, the temperature just kept on increasing, and then I could see smoke appear as it had caught fire."
Verstappen added that Red Bull will investigate the matter and find answers as to why the issue crept up during the race. He said:
"The team will investigate, and we will see if there are any answers, but there are some things you can’t control."
Interestingly, Max Verstappen has an unfortunate track record at Albert Park. His previous DNF also came at the track during the 2022 Australian GP.
Christian Horner explains the terminal issue on Max Verstappen's RB20 in the 2024 F1 Australian GP
The Red Bull team boss also chimed in on what went wrong with Max Verstappen's RB20 that forced him to retire from the 2024 F1 Australian GP.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Horner echoed Verstappen's explanation, stating that the brakes were stuck from the beginning of the race and eventually caught fire. He said:
"It's a brake issue and it looked like it was on since the start of the race which is why Max described it as like having a handbrake and caused him to have a couple of moments as the heat was building and building and the result is a fire. We will go through the damage and understand what's caused it."
Max Verstappen's DNF at the Australian GP came as a shock to many, especially given Red Bull's consistency and reliability in recent times.
The race at Albert Park was eventually won by Carlos Sainz, who was returning to the track after an appendicitis surgery. His teammate Charles Leclerc finished second, giving Ferrari their first 1-2 podium finish since 2022.
