Photo: Formula1
Recently all the focus regarding engine issues and bad strategy calls has been on the team with the prancing horse. That is justifiably so as they had seen some high-profile incidents from pit errors to engines catching fire and critical driver mistakes, when during the French GP, Leclerc got up close and personal with the barriers, costing him what would have likely been a win and 25 points.
However, we should not forget that Red Bull started this season in Formula One with a double DNF, and while things have gotten better with the team leading both championships, they did not completely get rid of all the gremlins in their car, as Max Verstappen finds himself taking the fourth gearbox of the season ahead of the Hungarian GP.
Two other Honda-powered cars have had catastrophic failures in races as well, with Gasly’s open-wheeler encountering electric issues leading to retirement in Bahrain while Tsunoda could not even start the race in Jeddah.
When it comes to Red Bull, reliability issues had not stopped after Bahrain race, with Perez failing to finish the Canadian GP and Verstappen scoring a big 0 in the points department after a DNF in the Australian GP. Of note is also the fact that Max complained about issues with his car during the qualifying stage of the Hungarian GP, which is a sign of concern for Red Bull as it led to Max being last in Q3.
Max is obviously the one who stands to lose the most from the reliability problems, being in contention for this year’s driver’s championship and fighting to defend the title he won last year. This is where Ferrari fans can rejoice, as Verstappen has just taken another gearbox, the fourth and last one he can take this season without suffering a grid penalty, and the season is very much still going with 11 more races yet to be disputed.
While Red Bull is facing a mounting possibility of grid penalties for Max at the rate the car is tearing through multiple gearboxes, Ferrari seems to be making strides in the right direction. Even though they stated their main focus for this season was to make the most powerful engine they could, with reliability in the background, Red Bull seems to be matching them for failures.
Two other Honda-powered cars have had catastrophic failures in races as well, with Gasly’s open-wheeler encountering electric issues leading to retirement in Bahrain while Tsunoda could not even start the race in Jeddah.
When it comes to Red Bull, reliability issues had not stopped after Bahrain race, with Perez failing to finish the Canadian GP and Verstappen scoring a big 0 in the points department after a DNF in the Australian GP. Of note is also the fact that Max complained about issues with his car during the qualifying stage of the Hungarian GP, which is a sign of concern for Red Bull as it led to Max being last in Q3.
Max is obviously the one who stands to lose the most from the reliability problems, being in contention for this year’s driver’s championship and fighting to defend the title he won last year. This is where Ferrari fans can rejoice, as Verstappen has just taken another gearbox, the fourth and last one he can take this season without suffering a grid penalty, and the season is very much still going with 11 more races yet to be disputed.
While Red Bull is facing a mounting possibility of grid penalties for Max at the rate the car is tearing through multiple gearboxes, Ferrari seems to be making strides in the right direction. Even though they stated their main focus for this season was to make the most powerful engine they could, with reliability in the background, Red Bull seems to be matching them for failures.
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