Max Verstappen is "not thinking" about this year's Formula 1 title amid Red Bull's problematic start to the season.
While the reigning world champion has been Charles Leclerc's nearest challenger in the first three races, fuel system issues mean he has only finished once, that being his victory in Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, Verstappen is now concerned about the jump in performance shown by Ferrari in Australia, where the Monegasque was simply too quick.
“If you want to fight for the title, you have to be ahead of Ferrari, and they are ahead of us in many ways," the Dutchman, who is currently 46 points behind Leclerc, said.
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"We are already so far behind [in the championship]. We need to be faster and more reliable. We are not both of those things right now.
“I’ll just do my best again in the next race. But I’m not thinking about the title fight right now, I just want to finish races and try to win them.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner is also worried about the range of reliability problems that have struck in the opening races.
“We’ve seen it across the two teams, a few issues,” he said. “They’ve all been independent, none of them has been related.
“We obviously need to understand those and address them quickly because even on a day that we weren’t as quick as Ferrari we were guaranteed second place.
Gutted. Very frustrating to end another race like this as we were looking at an easy P2 😤
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 10, 2022
Congrats to @SChecoPerez on scoring another podium. 💪
We have to work hard the coming days to get on top of things and improve for Imola. pic.twitter.com/6hEUlkvwZK
“In the first few races, for Max, we’ve given up 36 points and for the team, we’ve given up 50 points. When you look at that, both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship would be a lot different.
“But there’s still a huge percentage of the championship still to run but we need to get on top of these issues quickly.”
Red Bull's problems are not just limited to reliability either, with the RB18 understood to be one of the heaviest cars on the grid.
Reports suggest as much as an eight-kilo diet might be coming for Imola, which motorsport advisor Helmut Marko hopes can make a difference.
“We will indeed get an upgrade,” he confirmed. “If it functions as well as the first updates and if we can reduce the weight, we can put that package on a par with Ferrari.
“But more importantly, we solve the reliability problems. You can have a fast car but if you don’t get to the finish, it’s of no use.”
