"You have to finish to get that second place" - Max Verstappen rues missing out on 'an easy P2' at 2022 F1 Australian GP

Max Verstappen believes the 2022 Australian GP was a hopeless race, where he could not chase Charles Leclerc without compromising his own performance. The Dutchman was extremely disappointed with the result and believes finishing the race is going to be very important henceforth.

Describing his race in the TV pen, the Dutchman said:

“To be honest with you, the race promised me absolutely nothing. Cause it was just a terrible race. Just no pace, at the least I couldn’t push because the tires were getting destroyed. We need to understand why that is because all the time I would try to follow Charles, there is know way I could keep up with that without destroying my tires.”

Chasing Leclerc throughout the race was an uphill task for Max Verstappen, as he had to constantly manage his tires throughout the race. The reigning champion believes the team will have to investigate the loss in performance as he lacked pace throughout the race.

Explaining his race after a pitstop, the 2021 champion said:

“In the second stint, I was managing my own pace compared to the guys behind. It was looking like quite an easy P2 anyway, but you have to finish to get that second place even on a bad day. We are not doing that and thats of course extremely frustrating.”

The Dutch champion believes the second-place finish was an easy result despite lacking pace but completing the race is important. Frustrated at the outcome, his initial reaction to the race was that it was frustrating and unacceptable. Thinking about the championship was out of the question with two retirements in three races for Max Verstappen.

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Max Verstappen admits the two retirements at the beginning of the season hurt massively

Retiring on lap 39, the Dutchman complained on his radio about smelling fluid. The reigning champion was immediately asked to stop the car by a fire marshal, as smoke bellowed from the rear of his car. It was later understood that he suffered a fuel leak, which forced him to retire.

However, Christian Horner believes the issue is unrelated to the power unit or engine and can only be investigated after the race. On being asked about the retirements affecting his title hopes, Max Verstappen said:

“Massively, we are already so far down in the championship that from now on onwards, firstly you need to be faster than them, which we are not. And zero points with the car which we also don’t have. So its going to be a big task.”

Horner has confirmed that the engine from Max Verstappen's car has been sent to Honda’s facility in Japan for a diagnosis. The same reliability concerns were not there with Sergio Perez’s car. It will be interesting to see how the team overcomes their reliability hurdles with a championship fight on their hands against Ferrari.