Concerns for Red Bull: Verstappen brake problem appears to be structural

After 43 consecutive finishes, Max Verstappen's long streak came to an end. The world champion had to bring his Red Bull Racing car to the pit lane during the Australian Grand Prix because of brake problems. Verstappen stated afterwards that it seemed as if he was driving around with the handbrake on. That observation was reminiscent of Bahrain, when Charles Leclerc had a similar problem. Remarkable: Red Bull Racing, just like Ferrari, uses brake discs and brake calipers from the Brembo brand.

The exact cause of Verstappen's retirement is of course being further investigated, immediately after the Grand Prix Christian Horner said, "I think we can see there's been an issue where the caliper has created the brake to bind on and that's happened from the very start of the race, so you can see the heat building and then I think as early as the second lap it was like Max has got a handbrake at turn three, he had a moment there, then another that allowed Carlos to pass him, he was then lining up to have a go back and then had another moment and then we started to see the smoke and then the fire."

Problems for Red Bull and Brembo?

As mentioned, Charles Leclerc certainly recognises the feeling andm, in any case, it seems like this could be a structural problem at supplier Brembo. Red Bull tested in Bahrain with the brake caliper from Brembo, a brand that also supplies this part to Ferrari, Mercedes and all teams in F1. The Austrians choose the Italian company because it had manufactured an evolution in brake calipers, Formu1a.uno reported earlier this season.

Red Bull already knew prior to the season that the Brembo brake calipers were very complex components - and therefore prone to failure. It appears that these Brembo parts did indeed cause a problem in two of the three Grands Prix in 2024. That is not a good average and undoubtedly reason for investigation at Red Bull, Ferrari and certainly also Brembo in Italy.