Red Bull finds cause of Verstappen failure

Red Bull has identified the problem that ended world champion Max Verstappen’s Australian GP.

The Dutchman is not only behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings, he is only sixth overall after two failures out of three races so far.

"We were able to clarify the cause of the fuel leak in Max’s car," Dr Helmut Marko told Speed Week.

However, he admitted he isn’t sure the team will be able to implement a short-term fix before Imola.

"The matter is very complex," said the 78-year-old Austrian. "The problem is absolutely different from that of Bahrain."

Verstappen, 24, was outwardly angry and also downbeat after Melbourne, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insists the title race is far from over.

"The encouraging thing for us is that we basically have a fast car," he said.

"Max will fight back. Of course Max was frustrated after his retirement, but we’ve got a little more than ten percent of the season behind us, so there’s still a long way to go."