Reliability woes have dogged Red Bull throughout 2022 and in Australia for the second time in three races Max Verstappen retired due to a technical issue. The reigning World Champion has been the closest match to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at each race this year but with a solitary fine, winning in Saudi Arabia, to show for his efforts the Dutchman finds himself 46 points adrift. There's still plenty of
racing to be had in 2022 but he knows that from the next race at Imola he needs to start building momentum.

Speaking after his Australian retirement, again due to a fuel system issue, Verstappen said that the problems facing the team are "unacceptable."The speed is inherit in the Red Bull machine but there were issues in Melbourne with getting the car to work.

Tyre wear was a problem for Verstappen with the Pirelli rubber "graining." This is when strips of rubber are torn from a tyre and stick to the hot surface of the tyre. It means that the driver suffers handling problems because the surface is uneven. With less grip the driver loses a lot of their potential and their laptime suffers.

The Red Bull is a fast car but it's unreliability has cost them badly in the opening rounds of the campaign. Christian Horner, Team Principal for Red Bull, will know that the pressure is on to find a solution. Otherwise their title defence will grind to a halt. The champion is still very much in the fight for the title this year but his window of opportunity gets smaller with each missed opportunity.

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