After starting the 2023 F1 season with back-to-back 1-2 finishes, Red Bull have switched their attention to the upcoming Australian Grand Prix, by sharing some photos of former driver Sebastian Vettel from 2011.
Red Bull’s social media admin posted on Twitter some photos of the four-time World Champion playing with animals, ahead of the 2011 Aussie GP.
The 2011 Australian GP is Red Bull’s most successful race at the Albert Park Circuit to-date, with Vettel having claimed the Austrians only win at the venue.
Double World Champion Max Verstappen will likely be hoping to claim Red Bull’s second win in Australia in a bid to bounce back from his driveshaft failure during qualifying in Saudi Arabia, which ended any realistic hopes of victory.
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The 2011 edition of the Australian GP is actually Red Bull’s most successful in general, with Mark Webber having claimed fifth, ensuring that Red Bull started the 2011 season in emphatic fashion with a 1-5.
Verstappen hasn’t always performed well in Australia and has only ever claimed one podium at the venue, which came in 2019 where he finished third.
Last season’s race was one to forget for Verstappen after he suffered his second reliability-based retirement in three races, handing Charles Leclerc an easy victory.
Sergio Perez on the other hand, finishes second last season in Australia, behind Leclerc.
Given Red Bull’s dominance so far this season, a third consecutive 1-2 would be a safe bet; however, Ferrari were very strong in Melbourne 12 months ago.
Aston Martin will also be expected to be a podium contender once again given how well they’ve started the season, with Fernando Alonso having finished third in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
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Mercedes are a team who are very difficult to predict, with nobody having expected them to perform better than Ferrari at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Should the Silver Arrows introduce upgrades in Australia then perhaps they’ll be in the mix with Aston Martin and Ferrari; however, a win will likely be out of the question.
One thing which can be expected is that Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari will all be doing whatever they can to stop Red Bull from claiming a third consecutive 1-2.