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Ex-Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug expects Charles Leclerc to up his game even further after his Australian GP dominance.

Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen find themselves battling at the front early in 2022, Leclerc already sitting pretty at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, though Verstappen would have occupied P2 right now if pace alone decided.

But instead, he finds himself down in P6 after retiring while running P2 at both the Bahrain and Australian GPs.

The Dutchman made his frustrations clear after that Australia DNF, saying Red Bull can not expect to challenge for the title if they do not make the RB18 reliable.

Already the deficits are concerning, with Verstappen 46 points behind Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings and Red Bull 49 points adrift in the Constructors’.

Haug, speaking in the AvD Motor & Sport magazine on SPORT1, stressed that this does not mean that Red Bull “can’t get their act together”, however, while there are still a potential 20 races to go, it is “still a race against time” for Red Bull to recover that lost ground.

The Australian Grand Prix was particularly concerning though for Red Bull