Max Verstappen was injured early in the Australian Grand Prix, suffering what appeared to be a mechanical failure with his Red Bull.
The Dutch driver retired for the first time in a race in Melbourne, when a strange failure occurred at the rear of his car while he was fighting for the lead.
Max Verstappen retires from Australian GP
Verstappen, who took pole position for the race with a great lap in qualifying, took the lead easily at the start, but after just one racing lap, DRS was activated, and the Dutch driver lost his place in Carlos Sainz's Ferrari. I realized that I was under pressure from
Although he complained that the car was “loose”, it quickly became apparent that something was wrong with his RB20 as the right rear corner of his car began to smoke heavily before catching fire.
Verstappen was able to return to the pits, but it quickly became clear there was no chance of continuing the race.
His race retirement ended his winning streak that started at last year's Singapore Grand Prix. The Dutch driver has won all nine races since then and was aiming to equal last year's record of 10 consecutive wins.
Red Bull confirmed that an analysis of the accident had begun and that a rear brake problem was the cause of Verstappen's retirement.
Carlos Sainz's lead widens at the Australian Grand Prix after his retirement from second place, with the Ferrari driver looking to use Verstappen's problems to repeat his heroics at the Singapore Grand Prix.
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