Red Bull performance at Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ‘crucial’ for a Formula One title fight this season

Red Bull have shown they have the pace to compete for victories but have struggled with sustaining the reliability of the car

Red Bull have suffered reliability issues so far this season (Getty Images)

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is now “crucial” to Red Bull’s hopes of fighting for the drivers’ championship this season, according to Dutch racer Tom Coronel.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen’s victory in Saudi Arabia was sandwiched in between reliability problems in Bahrain and Australia which saw him fail to finish both races.

Teammate Sergio Perez also suffered an issue in Bahrain as his hopes of a podium place evaporated on a turgid opening weekend for Red Bull.

As a result, after three races Perez sits fourth in the drivers’ standings and Verstappen down in sixth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has already built up a 34-point advantage over second place George Russell as he has benefited from the inconsistency of his rivals.

And Coronel believes the Emilia Romagna GP, which takes place at the Imola circuit on 24 April, could be key in Red Bull’s pursuit of a second successive drivers’ title.

Speaking to motorsport.com, he said: “Especially because they competed for the top prizes last year and now they have the speed again to constantly drive for the podium.

“I think that’s great, just look at Mercedes. With a second place in the first race, a win and now again in second place [Verstappen] had the speed and that’s what it is about. But yes, that also means if you give away twice that amount of points, you have a serious problem.

“But in the end, you want to have a fight with two different teams. Like it was at the beginning of last year, that was of course mega. Then the dime could fall in a different direction every week with Mercedes and Red Bull. That’s what Formula 1 wants and for that, Imola just becomes crucial.

“I thought Red Bull would already do something about the weight for Australia, but Imola is where the biggest upgrades come. So the question there is ‘are they there or not?’”

The Emilia Romagna GP has only been on the F1 calendar since 2020 when it was won by Lewis Hamilton. Last year Max Verstappen claimed victory around the Imola circuit.