Verstappen laments Bahrain GP where 'everything went wrong'

Max Verstappen provided explanations for his poor pace and numerous mishaps at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a race where "everything went wrong" for the Dutchman.

The defending champion's struggles with his Red Bull RB21 returned around the Bahrain International Circuit, after a surprise victory the previous weekend in Japan.

He could only muster seventh on the starting grid after complaining of poor stability and drivability of his car. Come race day the four-time World Champion only made up one position from his starting slot, snatching sixth place from the Alpine of Pierre Gasly on the very last lap.

After an agonisingly slow stint on the hard compound of tyre, Verstappen found himself at the foot of the field in 20th, not a position that the Dutch driver is used to being in.

'Bad Everything'

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix, Verstappen listed off everything that he had to grapple with during the race.

He said: "Just no pace, tyres overheating, the balance was bad, and then in the race bad start, bad pitstops, so yeah, everything went wrong.

"The pitstops, of course, normally we are good at, but today everything went wrong," reiterated the Dutchman.

Verstappen continued by explaining the fundamental issues that he is currently battling with the RB21 beneath him: "The balance in general has been bad, and our tyre management has been quite poor.

"And of course on a track like this it's always highlighted, because the degradation is very high.

"This is probably one of the worst tracks for us, hopefully when we go to Jeddah it will all be a little bit better," added Verstappen.

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The 27-year-old went into detail about the strategic errors that cost him during the Grand Prix.

"The start was not good, then the pace was not good in the beginning already, just tyres overheating again, the balance was not where I wanted it to be.

"Then the first pit stop something went wrong with the lights, they stayed on. Now you can drive through the lights, but that's not the protocol of the team. I had to just wait, but I realised there was a problem.

"Then I was stuck in traffic. The hard tyres unfortunately didn't work; they were just lower grip and an even higher degradation for me. We pitted again, an even worse pit stop, so then I was last.

"Considering everything to still finish P6 with the pace that we had, I think it's still a good result, there's not much more that I guess we could have done," concluded Verstappen.

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