Credits: IMAGO / Michael Potts

Carlos Sainz once again put an end to Max Verstappen’s winning streak after emerging victorious at the 2024 Australian GP. While Sainz put in a phenomenal performance, just two weeks after his surgery, question marks have been raised over his win because he didn’t have Verstappen to battle with during the race. The Dutchman was forced to retire from the race on lap 3 after a malfunction on his RB20. So how would the race have ended if Verstappen wasn’t forced to retire?

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Verstappen has been on a dominant run since 2022. His performances single-handedly won Red Bull the constructors’ title in 2023, but in Melbourne last weekend, the car just didn’t have enough pace. Verstappen and Sainz went neck to neck in the opening two laps, but after his retirement, it was evident that Red Bull was not the fastest car out on the track. Sergio Perez, who finished P2 in each of the opening two races, could only muster up a P5.

On X, Junaid Samodien quoted AMuS and revealed that McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella pointed out Perez’s inability to keep up with Ferrari and McLaren. The former’s team principal, Fred Vasseur too, came to the same conclusion- both McLaren and his team were faster than Red Bull on the day.

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However, Red Bull team advisor, Helmut Marko felt otherwise. Marko believes that if Verstappen hadn’t retired from the race, he would’ve gone on to equal his own record of 10-consecutive race wins. Crash.net quoted him, “With Max in the race, the outcome would have been completely different.”

Have Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s rivals finally caught up?

Even when Verstappen was in the lead on lap 1, he was not able to pull away from a chasing Sainz. This might’ve been due to his brake issues. However, the Ferrari seemed like a competitive car all throughout the weekend with Verstappen struggling for pace with an RB20 that was graining its front tires at the rate of naught, leading to immense understeer.

With Verstappen out of the race, McLaren, too stepped up with both their cars. Their MCL38 seemed to be just behind Ferrari in terms of performance. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri guided the team to 3-4 finish, thus fully capitalizing on Red Bull’s miserable afternoon.

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Ferrari’s 1-2 finish in Melbourne brought them just four points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings. While it is still early days, it sets up an exciting stage for the coming races of the season. If Ferrari can keep matching the Milton-Keynes-based outfit’s pace, then Verstappen could finally be given a run for his money.