RedBull Racing continues to dominate the opposition for their third consecutive year; however, a recent reliability issue has been a topic of concern for enthusiasts.
The team started in Bahrain with a successful qualifying, but more importantly, showed other teams that RedBull Racing was back for another season of supremacy. Max Verstappen qualified 1st with more than two-tenths of wiggle room. Secondary driver Sergio Perez fell close behind in 5th.
On race day, though, they only improved their standing.
Max Verstappen both started and finished the race in 1st– making a 22-second lead over second place. However, this did not shock viewers after his astronomical performance last season.
That said, Perez showed massive improvement over his qualifying session, placing 2nd after a hard-fought race. Between him and 5th place, his starting position, was a staggering 24.3 seconds, showing his excellence in the race, even whilst climbing the ladder.
This performance did not surprise anyone, though, since RedBull (a shortened, commonly used version of RedBull Racing) won 21 of the 22 races last season. Verstappen showed that he led the dynamic duo, winning 19 of those victories.
The team made similar strides in the second race: Saudi Arabia.
In qualifying, Verstappen placed 1st– beating the competition by 0.319 seconds– and Perez came in close behind with 3rd.
This only reinforced their dominance and gave viewers the impression that RedBull was on track for another season of success. Seemingly, the championship was already set-in-stone: triumph for RedBull Racing.
However, doubts quickly grew after the third race in Australia because of a brake failure in Verstappen’s car. His performance appeared slower than usual; however, it became obvious that in less than a lap, his brakes were on fire.
“When the lights went off, the right rear brake stuck on, and yeah, it didn’t cool so it just kept on being warmer and warmer– giving me really weird instabilities and then of course it caught fire,” Verstappen said in a post-race interview.
This, of course, meant that the 3-time champion had to retire from the race, which set both the team and driver back in the championship standings. This meant that Verstappen went from a substantial lead to only 3 points separating him and Charles Leclerc– a Ferrari driver– in 2nd place.
After only three races in, suspicions rose about the reliability of RedBull’s performance and if it could impact their standing in the championship. Seemingly, it could, so RedBull set out to dispute these claims.
The next– and most recent– race was in Japan.
RedBull started the weekend off strong with a 1-2 finish in qualifying, which realigned the team into their era of dominance.
They continued this high-level performance throughout the race, leading to their 3rd 1-2 finish this season. This, ultimately, crushed doubts that some held about the team’s reliability; however, it is noteworthy that some watchers are waiting for future races before they distinguish their doubts.
That said, an upcoming race in China is on the horizon, which will help solidify any speculations.
RedBull Racing, throughout history, has only won 2 of the 16 races at the Shanghai International Circuit, making it a learning experience for the team and drivers.
This is important to note because, typically, RedBull maximizes their strategy and practice sessions by reviewing success in previous years, which allows them to solely focus on the car’s performance. Whereas in Shanghai, the team will be forced to evaluate all aspects of the race on a deeper level.
Such a setback could lead the team to mistakes or worsened results, but only time will tell.
