Credits: IMAGO / Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen’s hope to take home his third consecutive victory of the 2024 season came to a heartbreaking end in Melbourne. The Red Bull driver suffered a reliability issue for the first time in 2 years, and it stopped him from achieving multiple milestones. Among them was Lewis Hamilton’s long-standing record of successive point finishes.
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Verstappen failed to finish an F1 race for the first time in 44 races. In all the 43 previous races, Verstappen finished in the points (he won the majority of them). His brakes giving out in Albert Park last Sunday meant that he has to start from scratch, if he wants to match or beat Hamilton’s record of 48 consecutive points finishes.
Verstappen could have achieved Hamilton’s incredible feat in Monaco later this year, but unfortunately, it could take him years to do the same again. Hamilton’s streak started at the 2018 British GP, and lasted until the 2020 Bahrain GP. Verstappen started his streak in Imola in 2022, and his last points finish came in the race before Melbourne- the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP.
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After Carlos Sainz overtook Verstappen on the first lap in Melbourne, smoke started coming out from his left rear wheel, which soon turned to fire. As a result, the three-time world champion limped into the pits and got out of the car, bringing his weekend to a premature end.
How the Australian GP DNF hurt Max Verstappen
Verstappen already has a 10-race win streak under his belt from the 2023 season, which was also broken by Sainz, interestingly. Winning 9 races in a row is no easy feat in itself, and Verstappen has now done it twice.
Even though Verstappen and Red Bull had a day to forget in Melbourne, it was one to remember for Ferrari. The Prancing Horses claimed their first 1-2 finish since Bahrain 2022 and looked strong in terms of performance. Many believe that, had Verstappen not retired, Sainz would still have won the Grand Prix.
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Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton also had a disastrous outing in Melbourne last Sunday. Hamilton had to retire on lap 17 due to a power unit failure, and George Russell crashed out on the final lap, ending Mercedes’ weekend with 0 points.
For the first time since the 2021 Italian GP, both Hamilton and Verstappen retired from a race. That year, they were both championship contenders and took each other out.
