Weak spot at Red Bull Racing: 'That could have happened to Verstappen too'

This is the first time since 2013 that Red Bull Racing have been in contention for the world title, or so it seems at the start of the season. However, with a 2nd and 5th place finish Red Bull can't be satisfied. Mercedes had the slower car, but won the race and was also the second driver on the podium.

This could also happen to Verstappen'.

''I don't want to sound too dramatic, but in this scenario, Red Bull just lost a lot of points. They had the fastest car and finished number 2 and 5. Mercedes with a slower car finished 1 and 3. This season will be about who maximizes their chances. It's a bit early to call that out now, but when something like this happens in round nine of the championship, you're saying they're not maximising their chances'', Jacques says on the Chequered Flag podcast.

The Formula 2 commentator is supported by Palmer. ''Perez was not at the front and of course, that was because of the problem before the start, but otherwise, he was also on P11 and he would not have been on P3 either. Perez should just qualify in the top four. Red Bull was lucky now because of Valtteri Bottas ' bad pit stop which meant Mercedes couldn't use him in the fight at the front halfway through the race,'' said the former Formula One driver.

Pressure on Red Bull Racing

''Red Bull's second worrying issue is reliability. Perez's retirement is worrying because it could have been Max. There was also a problem with Verstappen's car," Palmer says, pointing to Red Bull's multiple problems during the race. Palmer is also not satisfied with the strategy.

''The strategy is hard to criticize, but Red Bull has had no pressure for years. They've been the underdog since 2014 and from that position have occasionally achieved great results with a clever strategy, but now there's pressure every race to be able to get the most out of it and they didn't get that now'', Palmer concludes.