FILE PHOTO: Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen applauds on the rostrum after ending second place within the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. REUTERS/Rula Rouhana
MELBOURNE— Purple Bull stand poised to shrug off their Australian Grand Prix hoodoo on Sunday and proceed their domination of the Components One world championship as rivals battle for tempo.
Purple Bull has not received at Albert Park since former driver Sebastian Vettel claimed the 2011 race however there could also be no stopping the constructors champions this 12 months on the lakeside circuit.
With Max Verstappen main a Purple Bull 1-2 in Bahrain and teammate Sergio Perez flipping the order in Jeddah, Purple Bull have been in a category of their very own this season, with the RB19 automobile dazzling with its pace and displaying ample reliability.
“It’s at all times good to … expertise Melbourne a little bit, though from a racing perspective, it isn’t one which has been too variety to us over time,” stated double defending champion Verstappen, who was pressured to retire throughout final 12 months’s race as a result of a gasoline downside.
“The observe is nice with some high-speed corners, and one I take pleasure in driving so hopefully we are able to have race this weekend.
“We simply want it to be easy and constant.”
Verstappen leads the championship by some extent from Perez, who received in Saudi Arabia by holding off the Dutchman as he roared again to second from fifteenth on the grid.
Components One will hope Perez can hold the stress on Verstappen, with the opposite groups seemingly nicely behind the event curve.
An unprecedented fourth DRS Zone at Albert Park this 12 months — between turns eight and 9 on the 14-corner lay-out — may play additional into Purple Bull’s fingers.
‘RACING HARD’
FILE PHOTO: Purple Bull’s Sergio Perez celebrates after profitable the Saudi Arabian Grand. Prix Pool by way of REUTERS/Luca Bruno
As soon as-dominant Mercedes, whose drivers George Russell and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton completed fourth and fifth respectively at Jeddah, are “storming full steam forward” to bridge the hole after realising they acquired their automobile idea fallacious.
“The indicators we’re seeing again on the manufacturing facility are promising,” stated crew boss Toto Wolff.
“We aren’t the place we wish to be – however that received’t cease us from racing laborious and giving it all the things we’ve acquired.”
They might want enchancment rapidly in the event that they hope to retain Hamilton, whose contract expires on the finish of the season.
Hypothesis in regards to the 38-year-old Briton’s subsequent transfer is already rife, with Ferrari seen because the doubtless vacation spot.
Ferrari, nonetheless, has their very own issues, with drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc lamenting a scarcity of tempo after ending sixth and seventh respectively in Jeddah.
Neither they nor Mercedes have a podium this season, upstaged by the much-improved Aston Martin and their 41-year-old twice world championship-winning driver Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin has dismissed jibes from Purple Bull that the AM23 is a replica of its automobile, regardless of sporting a Mercedes engine and gearbox.
That has hardly fazed them.
“Now we have a distinct idea to these two vehicles (Purple Bull and Mercedes) though it’s true that visually all of the vehicles look a little bit bit comparable,” Alonso advised Spanish media.
Dwelling followers will cheer a brand new Australian driver over the weekend, with the much-hyped rookie Oscar Piastri having changed Daniel Ricciardo within the papaya colours of McLaren.
Ricciardo, now reserve driver at Purple Bull, by no means managed a podium at Albert Park, and Melbourne-born Piastri’s first dwelling race is unlikely to prevail, with struggling McLaren but to attain some extent.
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