Max Verstappen gestures to fans after retiring from the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park.
Photo : AP
Max Verstappen gave an explanation of the Red Bull RB20 problem that resulted in his retirement from the Australian Grand Prix in 2024. The reigning world champion qualified first at Albert Park on Saturday, but his right rear brakes overheated on Sunday, forcing him to withdraw from the Grand Prix.
Verstappen's withdrawal allowed Ferrari to seize control and win the Australian Grand Prix with a 1-2 podium result. This DNF guaranteed that the Dutchman would not win ten straight races to finish his winning streak.
Verstappen said to Sky Sports after the race that his brakes became jammed after it began. He clarified that over time, the jammed rear right brake continued to accumulate heat and eventually caught fire. The Dutch driver had to retire the vehicle due to the problem. He declared:
"It is unfortunate about what happened today, but we can see so far in the data that as soon as the lights went off, the right rear brake just stuck on and locked. It was basically like driving with the hand brake on, so, of course, the temperature just kept on increasing, and then I could see smoke appear as it had caught fire."
Verstappen continued, saying Red Bull will look into the situation and determine why the problem surfaced during the race. "The team will investigate, and we will see if there are any answers, but there are some things you can’t control."
It's interesting to note that Max Verstappen has a bad history at Albert Park. His prior DNF occurred at the same track in the Australian Grand Prix in 2022. The head of the Red Bull team also discussed the issues with Max Verstappen's RB20 that resulted in his retirement from the 2024 Formula One Australian Grand Prix.
Reiterating Verstappen's justification, Horner told Sky Sports that the brakes were jammed from the start of the race and eventually caught fire. "It's a brake issue and it looked like it was on since the start of the race which is why Max described it as like having a handbrake and caused him to have a couple of moments as the heat was building and building and the result is a fire. We will go through the damage and understand what's caused it."
