Max Verstappen says he is aware of how acute reliability setbacks could prove in an inter-team title fight in Formula 1.
Red Bull has opened a sizeable advantage across the opening two rounds of the 2023 season with the RB19 scoring a dominant pole position and 1-2 finish in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Red Bull already holds a 39-point advantage over Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.
Verstappen dominated practice in Jeddah but was sidelined during the second knockout phase of qualifying when he suffered a driveshaft failure.
Verstappen recovered from 15th on the grid to finish second, behind team-mate Sergio Perez, who controlled proceedings from pole position.
With one win and a second place apiece in 2023 the Red Bull drivers are separated by only one point, in Verstappen’s favour, after he claimed fastest lap in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s not only about the pace of the car: we need to make sure we are reliable without any issues,” said Verstappen.
“I mean, my first weekend was not very clean, because of just the big balance shift from testing to the race weekend, some other things which are going on in the background.
“And now again, after three positive practice sessions, where then of course, I have an issue in qualifying.
“Of course, I recovered to second, which is good. And of course in general, the whole feeling in the team, everyone is happy but personally, I’m not happy. Because I’m not here to be second, especially when you are working very hard also back at the factory to make sure that you arrive here in a good state, and basically making sure that everything is spot on.
“And then you have to do a recovery race, which I like – I mean, I don’t mind doing it – but when you’re fighting for a championship and especially, you know, when it looks like it’s just between two cars, we have to make sure that also the two cars are reliable.”
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