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Red Bull: 'We are already used to moments like these from Verstappen'
- GPblog.com
Helmut Marko cannot believe his luck, that Red Bull Racing have won three out of three races to start the 2023 season. Everyone at the Austrian stable held their breath for a moment when Max Verstappen's comfortable lead disappeared like snow in the sun due to a red flag, having to restart in the process. But fortunately, Verstappen got away well on the third occasion.
"It was Red Bull Racing's 350th start, the team's 95th win, the 37th win for Max and yesterday was Red Bull's 36th launch. So that's the ultimate combination and the ultimate success story," said a delighted Marko in front of the German television channel Sky Sports.
Verstappen battling Melbourne restarts
Verstappen immediately lost a place at the start of the Australian Grand Prix to George Russell, and later on the first lap to Lewis Hamilton. On the restart after the first red flag, the Dutchman also did not get out of his place well, as Fernando Alonso immediately pushed him down to turn one. However, the Dutchman defended well and maintained his second position, still behind Hamilton.
Marko was asked if they had changed anything for Verstappen before the last restart so he would get off the line better. "There were two starts that were not very good, but thank God the decisive [restart] went well. It's a procedure that was set [beforehand] and it worked at the decisive moment."
Max through the grass
Just before the red flag caused by Kevin Magnussen, Verstappen lost just under five seconds of his lead over Hamilton. The Red Bull Racing driver briefly went through the grass in the final sector. Was Verstappen's excursion across the grass the same problem as Perez's in qualifying? "No, it was to be careful with the tyres, some temperatures dropped and then he made several adjustments. But we are already used to moments like these, he does that more often," Marko said.