Reliability a big issue for Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel went from pole to pain for the second race in a row when a brake failure ended the Red Bull driver's hopes of winning the Australian Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old German had led Formula One's season-opener in Bahrain from pole position two weeks ago when a faulty spark plug dropped him back to finish fourth. At Albert Park, he was again leading from pole when a problem with his front wheel led to a brake failure that saw him skid onto the gravel and out of the race.

"I had some sparks coming up from the left wheel. We didn't know what it was and so I wanted to pit," Vettel told reporters. "Then a couple of corners before, I had huge vibrations building up and as soon as I touched the brakes, I had some sort of failure going in to turn 13 and ended up in the gravel. It breaks my balls not to get the win, but there's still a long way to go in this championship."

Vettel ran off the track at Albert Park last year when fighting for the runner-up position with Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber. The Pole, who now drives for Renault, finished second on Sunday.

Vettel won four races last year with Red Bull to finish runner-up behind Sunday's race winner Jenson Button but so far has only 12 points from the first two races.

Australian team mate Mark Webber, who shared the front row of the grid with Vettel, finished ninth to cap a disappointing day for Red Bull.

"Ultimately an extremely disappointing day," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner after seeing his team again fail to convert their speed advantage into victory. "It was cruel luck for (Vettel) for the second year in a row here in Australia," he added. "Ninth place (for Webber) after starting the race with two cars at the front of the grid is massively disappointing."

By Ian Ransom - Reuters