Verstappen eyes perfect 10 in Melbourne amid Red Bull discord

Formula One champion Max Verstappen will bid to win back-to-back Australian Grands Prix on Sunday and match his record of 10 successive race victories even as Red Bull struggle to move on from off-track controversy.

Another chequered flag at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne would see the Dutchman equal last year's run of 10 wins from Miami to the Italian Grand Prix and leave rivals dwindling further in the rearview mirror.

Verstappen led a Red Bull 1-2 with Sergio Pérez at both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, though the early season triumphs have been tempered by team discord and allegations against boss Christian Horner.

Horner was cleared of alleged misconduct toward a Red Bull employee but the unidentified woman lodged an appeal after her complaint was dismissed, British media reported last week, ensuring the controversy will rumble on in Melbourne.

Red Bull, the Formula One champions' Austria-based parent company, has not commented on the reports but said before the season that the accuser had a right of appeal.

While the saga has had no perceivable impact on Verstappen's performance, the driver's father, Jos Verstappen, said after the Bahrain Grand Prix that the team risked being torn apart if Horner stayed in charge.

Those comments triggered fears Verstappen may look elsewhere from 2025 but the triple world champion, contracted to 2028, said things would have to "go really crazy" for that to happen.

Verstappen is already 15 points clear of team mate Pérez and 23 ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, raising the prospect that both the drivers' and constructors' championships may end up a repeat of last year's procession.

With Red Bull's RB20 performing at a different level to rival cars, the intrigue so far has focused on which team will emerge "best of the rest".

Leclerc finished more than 18 seconds adrift of Verstappen at Jeddah and Ferrari will be eager to close the gap at Albert Park where the Red Bull driver last year won a chaotic race laden with crashes and three red flags.

Ferrari were cheered in Saudi Arabia by the performance of British reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who finished seventh as a late replacement for Carlos Sainz, though the Spaniard is expected back in the race seat this week after appendicitis surgery.

Mercedes, touted as a potential destination for Verstappen in 2025 to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, have yet to perform at a level that would impress the Dutch champion.

Hamilton finished ninth in Jeddah and lamented three years' of stagnation for the team's car, saying big changes were needed.

Team boss Toto Wolff said the W15 car had not delivered on expectations but insisted it has potential.

"The chasing pack is so close, which means you don't have to be out by much to lose three or four places on the grid," he said in a preview ahead of Albert Park.

"It also means you don't have to find much to move up three or four positions. Maximising the potential of the car each weekend is key. Australia gives us another chance to show what we can do."

Daniel Ricciardo may also feel pressure to perform as he gears up for his return to his home circuit for the first time since 2022, this time with the rebadged RB outfit.

Ricciardo was 16th at Jeddah, one place behind team mate Yuki Tsunoda, prompting Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko to warn him to raise his game.

Young compatriot Oscar Piastri is well placed to steal Ricciardo's thunder in front of home fans, though, after finishing fourth for McLaren in Saudi Arabia.

F1 statistics for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park, round three of the 24-race championship:

Lap distance: 5.278km. Total distance: 306.124km (58 laps)

2023 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull One minute 16.732 seconds.

2023 winner: Verstappen

Race lap record: Sergio Pérez (Mexico) Red Bull, 1:20.235, 2023.

There was no grand prix at Albert Park in 2020 and 2021. The circuit was shortened by 28 metres, with two turns taken out and seven corners modified, in 2022, and is now considered a new layout from 2019.

Start time: 3pm Australian time, (6pm NZT)

Australia

There are two Australian drivers in Sunday's race, McLaren's Oscar Piastri and RB's Daniel Ricciardo, for the first time since 2013 when Ricciardo was on the grid with Mark Webber.

No Australian driver has ever won a home grand prix.

This year's race will be the 27th held at Albert Park, and 38th Australian Grand Prix. (It was held in Adelaide, as the final race of the year, between 1985 and 1995.)

Five current drivers have won in Melbourne: Fernando Alonso (2006), Lewis Hamilton (2008, 2015), Valtteri Bottas (2019), Charles Leclerc (2022) and Verstappen (2023).

Ferrari great Michael Schumacher won a record four times in Australia.

Hamilton has been on pole in Melbourne a record eight times (2008, 2012, 2014-2019).

McLaren have won a record 11 times in Australia, with Ferrari on 10.

The lowest starter to win was Britain's Eddie Irvine from 11th in 1999 for Ferrari. Seventeen of the 26 races in Melbourne have been won from the front row.

Pirelli are bringing their softest tyres to the race. The track has the second shortest pit lane on the calendar, at 281m.

Championship Lead

Verstappen has led the championship for a record 41 successive races dating back to Spain in May 2022.

He is 15 points clear of Pérez, with Ferrari's Leclerc third and a further eight adrift.

Race wins

Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 334 starts, but is chasing his first since 2021 - a run of 47 races without a win.

Red Bull won 21 of 22 races last year, with Verstappen victorious in a record 19, and have won 33 of the last 35.

Verstappen has won 56 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91.

Verstappen has won the last nine races and can equal his record of 10 in a row set in 2023.

Pole Position

Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary last year.

Podiums

Verstappen took his 100th career podium in Saudi Arabia. He is only the seventh driver to reach that number and the third with a single team. Michael Schumacher had 116 with Ferrari and Hamilton is on 148 (out of a total 197) with Mercedes.

The Red Bull driver set a record of 21 podiums in a season last year, but Michael Schumacher remains the only driver to have stood on the podium in every race of a season (2002).

Milestone

Red Bull's one-two win in Saudi Arabia put them ahead of Williams in solo fourth place in the all-time list of winners with 115.

Sunday could be the first time Red Bull have finished one-two in three successive races.

- This story was first published by Reuters