Max Verstappen finishes difficult weekend with sixth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix
Max Verstappen finished sixth in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning champion continued to struggle with his car, as he had during the qualifying session on Saturday. Oscar Piastri, in his McLaren vehicle, won the race in dominating fashion.
Verstappen began the race in seventh after the qualifying session on Saturday. Piastri took pole position after qualifying.
The Red Bull driver dropped a position after the first lap. It took until the sixth lap for Verstappen to pass Williams driver Carlos Sainz to re-take seventh spot. Red Bull called Verstappen for his first pit stop in the 12th lap. It was a very slow stop by the Red Bull team, leading to him coming out in 16th position.
It was clear that Verstappen was having several issues with the car. He told his team about struggling with the tire grip in the 18th lap. Although he was able to get over these issues enough to return to seventh after the poor pit stop, he dropped back to eight after Kimi Antonelli went past him in the Mercedes vehicle.
The car was now also overheating, according to Verstappen. He said this right before the Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton breezed past him to push the 27-year-old to ninth.
“I can’t even brake anymore. It is just ridiculous,” Verstappen said to his team after his former foe, Hamilton, had overtaken him.
It was a poor day for Red Bull. And it showed when the team was once again very slow to complete Verstappen’s second pit stop. The other Red Bull driver, Yuki Tsunoda, also struggled with these issues.
Verstappen had found himself in the eighth spot late into the race. He passed Esteban Ocon and then found himself chasing Pierre Gasly in the Alpine car for a long time. It seemed like Gasly had succeeded in keeping Verstappen at bay, but the reigning champion passed the Frenchman in the final lap.
“Phew, oh my god, that was difficult. Jesus.” Was Verstappen’s comments to the team at the end of the race. He admitted that the whole team got a lot wrong throughout the race.
