Red Bull has been getting used to finishing every Grand Prix with a driver on the podium, but the recent run of success ended in Monza with what proved to be a pointless and very disappointing Italian Grand Prix for the team.
It's the first time that neither Max Verstappen nor Alex Albon has finished in the points since the season opener in Austria.
Verstappen retired with a suspected engine issue on lap 30, while Alex Albon tumbled down the running order after a messy start and early penalty, and was never able to make up lost ground. He ultimately crossed the line in 15th place.
“That wasn’t a fun race and P15 clearly isn’t reflective of our true package," Albon said after the finish.
"We had a lot of damage with the left side of the floor missing after contact in turn 1 and then with the time penalty our race was basically over," having been sanctioned by the race stewards for an incident on lap 2 with Haas' Romain Grosjean
"We had no grip and lost a load of downforce so it was a long race where we were just limping to the end," he sighed.
"It’s been a tough weekend for us as a Team which we thought it could be and then with the circumstances today it’s just made it a lot harder."
As for Verstappen, even before his retirement the Dutch driver's race had been sinking backwards.
“I think pretty much everything that could go wrong today did go wrong," he said. "I had a very bad start with a lot of wheel spin when I dropped the clutch and from there onwards I was stuck in a DRS train which makes it almost impossible to overtake around here.
"After the red flag I had a problem with the engine at the re-start which we tried to solve but it didn’t go away and we had to retire the car which is of course very disappointing.
"Now we just have to forget this race and move on to next week at a new circuit we are all excited to visit."
"Certainly not our finest weekend," was the verdict of team principal Christian Horner. "[It began badly] with Max initially bogging down at the start and finding himself in a DRS train which is almost impossible to break around this track.
"At the re-start Max suffered an engine issue which we were unable to overcome, forcing him to retire on lap 30.
"Alex suffered damage from contact at Turn 1 which he also incurred an arguably harsh five second time penalty for, putting him to the back of the field before the safety car re-start.
"The damage to Alex’s floor from the early race contact was significant and he was losing around a second a lap throughout the race, resulting in him finishing P15.
"We will re-convene and work hard to ensure that we are back where we belong next weekend in Mugello," he said.
Horner also added his congratulations to Red Bull's sister team Alp[haTauri after Pierre Gasly secured his maiden F1 career victory.
"[They] achieved something great today to take victory here at Monza," he said.
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