Sergio Perez was unfortunate to miss out on the podium at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, however, he was lucky to even make the chequered flag following yet another reliability issue.
Whilst the speed of the RB18 is unquestionable, its reliability is certainly up for debate.
Red Bull have struggled already this season with reliability, and it looked mid-race like their woes would continue.
Perez, who ran in fourth virtually all race, was battling Carlos Sainz Jr for third at the Miami International Autodrome.
The Mexican dramatically got onto the radio though saying he was losing power.
Whilst at first Perez was told there was no issue, it was quickly discovered by his mechanics that there was a fault with a sensor which was automatically shutting down various systems in the cockpit.
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The Mexican’s panic was evident over the radio, with team principal Christian Horner explaining just how close he came to retirement.
“It was very close, we had to move the sensors around to address the issue,” he said.
“So that’s something we will work closely with HRC [Honda’s engine division] on to try and understand and obviously make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”
When the issue occurred, Perez rapidly dropped off the back of Sainz, with Horner stating that the Red Bull driver was “down probably 20 kilowatts in power” after the problem had been solved.
“He had an issue with a sensor on one of the cylinders,” added Horner.
“The guys managed to move the sensors around, but he was down probably 20 kilowatts in power as a result.
“Even with the advantage of the new tyre he had, he was probably half a second off what the car was capable of in straight line speed. And I think without that he would have probably even been P2.”
Red Bull have lost vital points already this season through reliability issues.
Reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, has already retired from two of the opening five races this season due to reliability issues.
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The Dutchman has staggeringly though won each race he’s completed so far this season.
As a result of his two retirements Verstappen currently sits second in the standings, nineteen points behind Charles Leclerc.
Perez is yet to win a race this season but has stepped on the second step of the podium twice this year, in Australia and Imola.
The Mexican’s only retirement came also at the season opening race, with Miami almost becoming his second DNF of the season.
Despite the clear reliability issues, Horner is insistent that the RB18 isn’t “fragile” and that he’s confident the issues will get sorted.
“I don’t think the car is particularly fragile. I think there’s just been niggly things that you would have normally seen in pre-season testing but have only reared their head as we’ve got into the season,” the 48-year-old said.
“That’s been frustrating. But we’re working closely with HRC and they’re giving us great support. So I think we’ll get those ironed out.”