Horner balks after the long series ends: 'That's no excuse'

It has been a disasterous weekend for Red Bull Racing in Australia. Max Verstappen crashed out after three laps and Sergio Perez finished only fifth, behind both Ferraris and McLarens. In a fortnight' time in Japan, Red Bull will get another chance to gain back their lead in the championship. Team boss Christian Horner says Verstappen will be sufficiently recharged by then.

It had been a while since Verstappen crashed out due to a mechanical problem. Indeed, that was during the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. So Red Bull's reliability has proved good in recent years, only during the Australia race things did go wrong.

Horner says the Dutchman reacted very well after his stoppage: "He was very good. He was very gracious with the team as well. As he pointed out to me, it was Australia 2022 that he last had a DNF in the car due to mechanical failure. So that's an impressive record. But it doesn't give excuses for today. And it's something that we'll learn from. But it shows how measured you are. You win as a team, you lose as a team together."

In Japan, Red Bull will have to recover. Overall, Verstappen is in good shape in Japan if we look at recent years. In 2022, his victory secured him the world championship and in 2023 he won the race as well. Horner therefore states, "I think Max will arrive in Japan sufficiently well-charged."