Debate | Verstappen can forget title prolongation

Max Verstappen's track record in Australia was already not very good and it didn't get much better with his retirement on Sunday. The Red Bull Racing driver saw Charles Leclerc again take the loot, while he himself saw eighteen seemingly certain points go up in smoke. It does Verstappen's title chances no good. Can the damage still be repaired?

Verstappen himself let it be known after the Grand Prix at Albert Park that he is not at all thinking of winning the title. According to the 24-year old driver, there is no point in worrying about it at the moment because reliability is a major issue and the position in the world championship is already 46 points in favour of Leclerc.

Is the damage already done?

Robert Doornbos also hinted that it will be difficult to win a Formula 1 championship when you drop out twice. We are only three races into the season and on the one hand that shows how painful those two DNF's of Verstappen are, on the other hand, there is enough time to improve and catch up.

Apart from the dropout in Melbourne, Ferrari was also simply the better side on all fronts. In qualifying Leclerc convinced and in the race, the Ferrari suffered much less from tire degradation than Verstappen and Perez. In the closing stages, Leclerc even went a second per lap faster than Perez. In Australia, for the first time this year, Ferrari really found itself in a lonely position. At least in Italy, they are determined to win a world title again after 2008 was the last time.

Red Bull can continue to develop well

Verstappen and Red Bull are fortunate in that they are racing under new regulations this year. That means there is still a lot of development potential in the car. In recent years, the Milton Keynes-based racing team has shown that it can make progress during a season by continuing to introduce updates. But is it enough?

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