Max Verstappen’s F1 title defense is in danger of ending before it has begun

Max Verstappen’s defense of the Formula One drivers’ title took another significant blow at the Australian Grand Prix.

Struggling to keep pace with the Ferrari of championship leader Charles Leclerc, the Dutchman had to retire his Red Bull for the second time in three rounds. The Ferrari man already has a 46-point lead over his rival, with four drivers between them.

There is plenty of time for this to change, but given the current state of play and trends it looks like it will indeed take plenty of time for Red Bull to make up that crucial lost ground.

The litany of issues facing Red Bull and Verstappen’s title defense is adding up to already a monumental task. We look at four main areas of concern for the driver and the team.

Reliability: To finish first, first you must finish

Clearly, not being able to finish a race is a fundamental flaw in being able to win races and the championship. Verstappen was not yet writing off his year just yet but joked that he might need 45 races, not 22, to claw back the advantage.

Last season Verstappen had three retirements, two of which were from clashes with Lewis Hamilton and one was a tire failure. In three races this year, he has not finished twice and, more worryingly, the issues are with the robustness of his car. These two retirements have cost him 36 points already – with a further 15 for the team in Sergio Perez’s Bahrain DNF. That is an enormous advantage to give away at any point, let alone early in the season.

Worse for Red Bull is that it was the ‘wrong’ driver that retired. Perez is there to support Verstappen and the team, but now he is ahead of his rival. This is not the foundation from which successful seasons are launched.