Max Verstappen has claimed he's not even thinking about defending his F1 title following a nightmare start to the season.
The Red Bull man claimed his maiden world championship in dramatic fashion in December, overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. And despite the new technical regulations introduced into the sport in this campaign, the Dutchman was widely expected to mount a strong challenge again this time around.
But this far, car reliability has scuppered him. Verstappen, 24, was running second behind Charles Leclerc in Bahrain before a fuel pump problem forced him to retire. Team-mate Sergio Perez was also forced out.
He responded in perfect fashion in Saudi Arabia, this time beating Ferrari man Leclerc, but disaster struck again in Australia on Sunday. Verstappen was trying to chase down Leclerc when he pulled onto the side of the track and promptly got out of his car after it caught on fire.
It's left him sixth in the overall standings with just 25 points from his win in Jeddah. The gap between him and leader Leclerc is already up to 46, and now the defending champion has played down his chances of clawing it back.
"Being already so far down in the championship, I think it’s 46 points, from now on we need to be ahead [of Ferrari]," he told reporters post-race at Albert Park. "We need to be quicker, which we are not at the moment.
"And we need to be reliable, which we are also not. So there’s a lot of things to work on. I don’t even think about [trying to win the championship]. At the moment, there is no reason to believe in it."
Red Bull aren't the only big team struggling. Mercedes have also failed to successfully adapt to the new era, with Toto Wolff admitting he rated Hamilton's chances this season at less than 50%.
Hamilton has been way off Verstappen in terms of pace, but is actually three points ahead of him overall having at least managed to finish all three races. His team-mate at the Silver Arrows, George Russell, lies second with 37 points.
Prior to the campaign, Verstappen committed his future to Red Bull by signing a multi million pound contract. The deal runs until the end of the 2028 season.
However, team advisor Helmut Marko has since revealed the contract does contain a clause that would allow him to leave if the team fail to deliver him a competitive car. It's a notion that Christian Horner and co will be wary off as they look to address their issues.
The next Grand Prix takes place at Imola, where Verstappen won in 2021, on April 24. Drivers will then head to America for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
