Red Bull endured a difficult start when the lights went out at the start of the Australian Grand Prix.
Laurent Mekies has clarified why Red Bull lacked battery power to compete on the opening lap of the Australian Grand Prix. Due to the new power units this year, drivers emphasize harvesting and deploying energy for optimum performance. Isack Hadjar was the top Red Bull in third place initially but lost ground to Arvid Lindblad and Lewis Hamilton. Both Red Bull drivers, including Verstappen, had empty batteries at the race start, hindering their performance. Mekies admitted they failed to properly charge the batteries due to limitations in the formation lap procedures. The drivers’ activities to warm up systems on the formation lap depleted the battery, impacting their race start negatively. Mekies underlined the necessity to handle the battery situation better in the future to avoid similar setbacks.
