No Formula 1 driver has ever matched the dominant run that Max Verstappen has currently been on since the start of the 2022 season.
In his last 46 starts, Verstappen has won a total of 36 races, including a record total of 19 wins in the 2023 season alone. He began 2024 with two more resounding wins, leading most fans to believe that they’re in for another season of Verstappen lapping the field, while all the other teams battle for second place at best.
That’s why on Sunday in Australia, the opening laps were shocking. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz passed Verstappen on lap 2, a surprise in its own right, and things quickly unraveled for Verstappen on the next lap, when he suffered a catastrophic brake issue.
Verstappen could tell he had massive issues with his brakes and pulled into the pit lane, where the right rear brake exploded as he entered the pits. That knocked him out of the race – giving fans a rare, fascinating battle for a race win between non-Red Bull teams. With Sergio Perez in the back half of the top 10, the race for the podium was realistically between four drivers – Sainz, his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, and McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen’s Red Bull has been unbelievably reliable over his last two championship seasons. His last race retirement came exactly two years ago at the very same track, when he was knocked out of the 2022 Australian Grand Prix.
While mechanical issues are never something to celebrate, Verstappen’s issues did make for an unexpected race for the win, something F1 hasn’t produced very often in the last few years.
In the end, Carlos Sainz picked up his third career Grand Prix victory, giving him a win for Ferrari in three consecutive seasons. Leclerc finished second, and Norris rounded out the podium.
