“Brought Us Victory in Abu Dhabi” – How Latifi Meddled With Red Bull’s F1 Fortunes in Recent Times

After the unfortunate Bahrain failure, Red Bull can now enjoy the win last week in Jeddah. But it could have been Sergio Perez instead of Max Verstappen. The results changed because of Nicholas Latifi, who was, interestingly, also a major part of Verstappen’s win last season at Abu Dhabi.

Checo had a phenomenal performance last week, even outperforming the Ferrari duo and teammate Max in the Saudi Qualifying. The Mexican secured a pole for himself in the qualifying, which was also the first pole of his career. Perez also had a strong start on the race day and was leading the race. But an early pit stop turned the tide for him and had to finish with P4.

Latifi crashed his Williams into the wall, bringing a Virtual Safety Car. So, Checo lost his lead in the race and an eventual podium due to pitting just before the VSC. On the other hand, last season in Abu Dhabi, the safety car brought out by Latifi’s crash helped Red Bull driver Verstappen to take the lead and win his maiden world championship.

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Speaking on this, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko expressed, “Latifi brought us victory in Abu Dhabi, here it cost Perez at least the podium. That’s just the way it is. There are always winners and losers in a safety car phase.” (quotes translated using Google Translate)

Red Bull boss worried about the 2022 engine

The Austrian constructor is using their own power unit this season, the Red Bull Power Train. The Milton Keynes base took over the Honda engine technology after they quit Formula One at the end of 2021. But the Japanese company will still support Red Bull with their engine manufacturing until 2025.

However, the RBPT has some issues even though the Japanese manufacturers are helping develop the power units. During the season opener in Bahrain this season, both the Red Bull cars had to retire from the race due to a suspected fuel pump issue, which led to their engine troubles. Hence, the Austrian conductors couldn’t bag a single point in the season opener. Also, the sister team AlphaTauri faced trouble with their 2022 challengers during the Bahrain GP.

The Red Bull boss Christian Horner is concerned about the engine this season and is looking forward to fixing it as soon as possible. Horner stated, “Of course, we’re concerned about it but I think first we have to understand what it is? I think once all the strip-down has been done and we understand what the issue is then, hopefully, fixes can be put in place.”

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The Austrian constructors will return with their RBTP in the upcoming Australian GP. Let’s hope they don’t face any more of such issues in Melbourne.