Red Bull Stumbles Out of the Gate as Pressure Ratchets Up Both on and off the Track

For the first time in this young Formula One season, Red Bull is facing as much adversity on the track as it has off of it.Red Bull’s three-time champion, Max Verstappen, saw his nine-race winning streak end early Sunday morning when he retired from the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Melbourne after his car caught fire four laps into the third race of the season.Mr. Verstappen started from the pole — as he had at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia — but was passed by the eventual winner, Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari, on lap two and faded until the car caught fire.The mechanical failure forced Mr. Verstappen’s first race retirement since he bowed out of this same race in 2022. “My right rear brake basically stuck on from when the lights went off,” the Dutchman told reporters Down Under. “The temperatures [in the car] just kept on increasing until the point that it caught fire.”Mr. Sainz earned his third career win just two weeks after missing the race in Saudi Arabia after he underwent an emergency appendectomy. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished second in the 58-lap event, giving Ferrari its first 1-2 finish since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. Lando Norris drove McLaren to third place and his teammate Oscar Piastri finished fourth. Mr. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, was fifth.Mr. Sainz will be replaced in 2025 by Lewis Hamilton, whose Mercedes didn’t finish the race due to an engine failure on Lap 17. “Life sometimes is crazy,” Mr. Sainz said of his journey from surgery to his triumph in Australia.Red Bull was enjoying one of the most dominant stretches in the history of Formula One racing by winning 21 races this year and the first two this season. Mr. Verstappen set F1 records with 10 consecutive victories in 2023 and 19 overall in 22 races.Things have been much rockier off the track, as sexual misconduct allegations against the Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, linger. A Google Drive containing files from the investigation was recently leaked to various press outlets and Formula One executives. The files reportedly contained the text messages from Mr. Horner to the female employee that triggered her charges of harassment.Red Bull cleared Mr. Horner of any wrongdoing after an independent investigation, but some, including Jos Verstappen, Max’s father, have questioned the transparency of the investigation. Verstappen père and F1 icon Ralf Schumacher also called for Mr. Horner to step down as the chief principal for Red Bull. “There is tension here while he remains in position,” Jos Verstappen said.Max Verstappen has tried to keep his focus on the track, telling reporters in Australia, “I don’t want to always be too involved with these kinds of things. Because at the end of the day, I’m the driver and I’m here to look at the performance side of things.”Meanwhile, Mr. Hamilton’s final year driving for Mercedes is off to a disastrous start. The seven-time champion has endured the worst start of his 18-year career with a seventh, a ninth, and a DNF.Red Bull has an open weekend to fix its mechanical problems. The Japanese Grand Prix is set for April 5-7.

Red Bull Stumbles Out of the Gate as Pressure Ratchets Up Both on and off the Track

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