The second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season seems to have never ended. McLaren took home the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the new season, with Lando Norris crossing the finish line just ahead of Max Verstappen.
In reality, the Dutchman’s second place at Albert Park was the result of a masterful drive by the four-time world champion, combined with a perfect strategy from the Red Bull pit wall, which called him in at the right moment to switch back to Intermediate tires when the rain intensified towards the end of the race.
Max left Melbourne with a podium, 18 points, and the awareness that he had minimized the damage against a McLaren that is now the technical benchmark in Formula 1. But not everything is as perfect as it seems at Red Bull.
The RB21, as already seen during the three days of testing in Bahrain, is an imperfect car and, as of today, clearly not at the level of the MCL39. In the first stint on Intermediates, Max managed to slot himself between the two Papayas and keep up with Norris for a few laps. However, he then suffered a dramatic drop in performance, running wide before Turn 6, allowing Oscar Piastri to reclaim second place, and then losing 14 seconds to the Australian in just a few laps.
A revealing team radio message came shortly after Oscar Piastri’s overtake, with Max asking when he could pit to change his completely worn-out tires.
After the race, Helmut Marko clarified the situation, admitting that the RB21 genuinely has a tire management issue. The degradation is too high, something the team had already noticed during testing.
“In Bahrain, McLaren was much faster than us. From half a second to a full second per lap. Here, instead, we managed to match them for a few laps before tire degradation set in and slowed us down. This is our main problem, the one we need to work on.” – he pointed out.
“During the race, however, conditions changed. We saw everything—rain, Safety Cars, and more. Max was always there, and I believe in the last six laps, he was the fastest on track. But with only one dry line available due to the damp surface, there was no way to overtake. We tried to encourage him, to push him into making Lando Norris crack under pressure. But it didn’t happen. Still, I think this is a very good result for us, and this will be a tough season.”
Now that the RB21’s weaknesses are clearer, work has already begun in Milton Keynes to eliminate the car’s shortcomings and fight McLaren at the front until the end of the races. The goal is to achieve this within 3-5 races, meaning between the Japanese, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.
“As I said, our main problem is tire degradation, but there are also others. However, we know what they are, and we are working hard to fix them. I assume that in 3-5 races, hopefully, we can solve them and have a car on the same level as McLaren.” – Helmut Marko concluded at the end of the Australian Grand Prix.
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