It is a Max Verstappen inevitably extremely disappointed who at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix comes to comment on the double retirement of Red Bull.
In Sakhir the reigning World Champion held up against Charles Leclerc from the start, trying three times to overtake him, but being easily passed by the Ferrari driver.
The twist occurred after the last stop and the entrance of the Safety Car for the exit of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri, when via radio Max began to complain of a steering malfunction.
Despite this, at the restart he tried to keep the second place, but it was blown by Carlos Sainz Jr. with a couple of laps to go, when his RB18 was definitely out of action.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“I am obviously disappointed, we could have finished in second place and it would have been a good result, so we are in the worst case scenario”, says Verstappen with a very tight face in the paddock.
“The problems got worse as time passed, I still haven’t talked to the team about the reasons. The fact is that they materialized as soon as the tires started to drop.”
“My steering started to be hard and the brakes were also overheating, which is why I was unable to be competitive in the restart from the Safety Car. I immediately pushed on the accelerator, but I could not turn well and put the wheels straight. . It was like everything was blocked. “
“I had to let Charles go away, then at a certain point it was as if there was no petrol coming to the engine. Practically the car stopped and I let it run towards the pit lane.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Soon the # 1 car went KO but the worst for Milton Keynes came in the last lap, when Sergio Pérez also had to raise the white flag.
A zero in the standings that Max does not go down, knowing how tight and fought the F1 of today is.
“When you see two cars retire in the final it’s clearly a bad thing. In the championship the important thing is to score points, even when you have a bad weekend. Losing so many at once is extremely painful when you think about how tough the fight is. in F1 “.
Despite this, the Dutchman is also looking for a minimum of positivity in view of the next races, with the appointment in Jeddah already set in 7 days in Saudi Arabia.
“The pace was excellent, the balance was not like what we had on Friday and on this we will have to understand why. There are many things to analyze, unfortunately problems can always happen. But the potential is there and we will work to improve.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Finally Verstappen wanted to clarify the skirmishes he had over the radio with the team during the exits from the pit stops, where according to him the situation could be managed better.
“When I drive I don’t hold back, I say what I think and I was not happy with what we were doing, with the balance of the car and the strategy. We were in second position and fighting with Ferrari; I think that from a strategic point of view we could have done a better job, being a little more aggressive on the exit lap, for example, to try to be in front. “
“You never know what can happen, we had a good top speed throughout the race. I don’t have it with my engineer, mind you, I have a great relationship with him, but of course he’s the only one I can talk to. “.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
His team-mate Sergio Pérez had something similar, seeing the rear of his RB18 crash into the final lap.
“We think it was a problem with the fuel pump, on the final lap my rear stopped completely. I knew it would be difficult to get to the finish line because the problem seemed to get worse with each lap,” explains the Mexican.
“It all started five or six laps to go, when Lewis was right behind me. I could feel my power losing. It’s very frustrating, but the upside is we’re fast. We just have to figure out how to be more reliable, understand the problems and find the pace to get closer to Ferraris “.
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