Carlos Sainz's victory and Charles Leclerc's second place in the Australian Grand Prix have given Ferrari the belief that it can make things difficult for Red Bull this season.
“The proof has been provided that if we get everything right, we can put pressure on Red Bull,” said team boss Fred Vasseur after the double success in Melbourne. “When Red Bull is under pressure, they make more mistakes.”
Ferrari was fortunate in Australia that three-time world champion Max Verstappen dropped out with brake problems. The Dutchman was unstoppable in the first two races of this year and won in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“I don't know whether we will succeed every weekend, but we are in a much better position than a year ago,” said Vasseur. “We were fast here in Melbourne from the first free practice. Sainz and Leclerc both drove great. We should not get carried away by this success, but continue this approach in the coming races. That is the way we can achieve the results we want.”
Lack of speed
Sergio Pérez, Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull, also saw the progress at Ferrari. The Mexican finished second behind Verstappen in the first two Grands Prix, but did not get further than fifth place in Melbourne. “If Max had not dropped out, Sainz would have won too. Absolutely,” Pérez acknowledged. “We just didn't have the speed this weekend, we didn't get the grip on the tires.”
Top advisor Helmut Marko saw it very differently. “I spoke to Max and he said that despite the braking problem he could easily keep up with Sainz's pace. If he had stayed in the race, the outcome would have been very different,” said the Austrian.
Verstappen's retirement ended a series of 43 races in which he always reached the finish and won the race 35 times. He could have equaled his record run of ten consecutive victories in Melbourne.