Verstappen: It was a challenging race
Despite an encouraging performance at the beginning of the race, Verstappen's race eventually turned into a nightmare.
For a long time, Verstappen was in 2nd place during this Bahrain Grand Prix, and it seemed that he was destined for a good result before several issues came to an end, shattering his podium dreams.
From the 46th lap, over 10 laps from the finish, Verstappen started complaining about his steering wheel. In fact, he was complaining over the radio about a heavier power steering than usual.
Finishing 2nd would have been a good result, but after my second pit stop, I had a problem with the steering. It was as if my steering wheel was stuck. The faster I went in the corners, the harder it was to steer. But despite all that, I was still in 2nd place, which was positive.
A problem that didn’t come alone. Indeed, when the safety car was deployed, the Red Bull driver was losing a lot of time on the straight lines, allowing Carlos Sainz to overtake him. Just a few corners after this overtaking, Max Verstappen lost all power, which forced him to retire in the pits.
« But then we had to give up because of a problem with the fuel. It’s really a shame to see both cars abandoned. We’ll have to investigate that.
»
While Red Bull engines were among those that completed the most laps during winter testing, in the first race of the season, 2 Red Bull and 1 AlphaTauri were unable to see the checkered flag.
A real reliability issue, which means that the Austrian team starts the season with a score of zero, while its rivals Ferrari and Mercedes have respectively gained 44 and 27 points.
