Verstappen blames Hamilton for his retirement
The young Dutch driver believes that Lewis Hamilton did not leave him enough space during his overtaking attempt on the second lap.
At Max Verstappen’s, hopes for a strong comeback faded within a few minutes. The race was off to a good start: starting fifteenth, the Dutchman had made a strong start, climbing to eleventh position. Elated by this good takeoff, he immediately tried to overtake Lewis Hamilton in the first corner of the second lap.
Max Verstappen then took the option to squeeze the reigning world champion onto the curb. In vain, as the Red Bull driver cut his right rear tire with the left front rim of the Mercedes. Result: immediate puncture and a lap to complete on three wheels. The ordeal ended on the fifth lap, his car being too damaged to continue.
« I had a good start and I felt good in the car » regretted Max Verstappen to the journalists’ microphones. The
Triple Grand Prix winner then recounted his brief race. For him, the culprit is none other than Lewis Hamilton.
« I had a good exit from the last corner, which gave me speed on the main straight. So I decided to dive inside at the first corner. Lewis was trying to hold on outside the racing line but I was ahead. Because of the collision with him, we had more severe damage than just a simple flat tire. »
« I think Lewis had enough space on the left. In my opinion, the lack of a penalty from the stewards is a bit unfair. »
For his part, Lewis Hamilton, who finished third, described the contact as “unnecessary.”
« We were in the process of battling each other, but I realized I had to ease off the accelerator to let him pass, which I did. He had passed, but he kept coming at me without leaving me any space. These kinds of things happen, but I felt that this contact was unnecessary. »
Beyond these reactions, the commissioners in any case did not make a decision by not distributing penalties to the two protagonists.
It was a nightmare Sunday in the desert for @redbullracing 😢#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/opBtuCRHJ6
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8, 2018
Ricciardo faces the harsh reality
To make matters worse, Verstappen only had time to witness his teammate’s retirement in the second lap. An electrical failure in his engine hit the number 3’s RB14.
« I lost all power all of a sudden,” Daniel Ricciardo explained. « Everything shut down without warning, I had to turn off the car and pull over to the side without being able to change gears. »
« This problem already happened to Max during the race last year. It’s frustrating for everyone on the team because we felt we had a good car. Sometimes, this sport is brutal and can break our hearts. »
The Austrian team leaves Sakhir with zero points in their bag. For the record, the last double retirement of Red Bull Racing dates back to the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, more than five and a half years ago…
After investigation, a suspected electrical engine issue put pay to Daniel’s #BahrainGP, while Max was forced to retire after sustaining too much damage from his early puncture 😔
Safe to say China can’t come soon enough… pic.twitter.com/HWAoDUI8GH
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 8, 2018
