MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 24: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the grid prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Circuit on March 24, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images).

Max Verstappen retired from the Australian GP as his rear right brake remained “stuck on” after the start. This was Verstappen’s first retirement after Australia 2022.

The Red Bull driver clinched pole position on Saturday, showing that even during a more difficult weekend for the Milton Keynes-base outfit, he could still make the difference.

On the first lap, Carlos Sainz could stay close to him, and then the Spaniard overtook the Dutchman after he made a mistake in turn 3. Then, smoke started coming out of the RB20’s rear right brake, causing Verstappen to retire one lap later.

“My right rear brake basically stuck on from when the lights went off, so the temperatures just kept on increasing and until the point of course that it caught fire,” Verstappen said.

“I had that moment after the first lap, but then already the temperature was increasing and increasing, so it just works like a handbrake. But of course, I didn’t know that stuff was happening. It just felt the problem was the car balance was off.”

“[The team] could see what was going on, but they don’t know what caused it.”

Verstappen admitted that, of course, he is not happy with his DNF because he believed he could fight for the win. The balance of the car was fine and he felt confident.

“Of course, I’m disappointed with not being able to finish the race because I think we would have had a good shot at winning,” he explained.

“The balance felt quite nice on that laps to the grid and I felt confident and like a good improvement compared to what I felt in the long runs that we did in practice. But yeah, some things you can’t control.”