Max Verstappen believes the decision from the Formula 1 stewards to take ‘no further action’ following his and Lewis Hamilton’s collision at the Bahrain Grand Prix was “a bit harsh.”
Red Bull’s night ended after just a couple of laps, with both Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen pulling off the circuit.
Out of position due to his qualifying crash, Verstappen made up ground from 15th on the grid. His quick start saw him behind Hamilton by the end of lap 1, making a move into turn 1. Squeezing the Mercedes, Verstappen clipped the left rear wheel with Hamilton’s right front, giving the Dutchman a puncture.
Verstappen explained the accident, “We got a bit squeezed but from the middle to the end of the corner I was ahead, I then felt a nudge from behind and could feel the puncture and therefore knew the race was likely over.
“In my opinion, there was plenty of room for the both of us to go around that corner and to say ‘no action taken’ is a bit harsh as I am now out of the race due to that contact on my left rear.
“Due to the hit with Lewis we sustained some more severe damage than just the puncture, we haven’t had a chance to look at the car yet but we suspect the differential.”
Verstappen’s team-mate Ricciardo would have a just as poor race. After initially battling with the sister Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, Ricciardo maintained fourth. However, it wouldn’t last long with the car switching off, forcing his retirement.
The Australian was upbeat on what his chances could have been for the race though, “Obviously, everyone in the team is so disappointed as we genuinely felt like we had a good car today. The weekend was going pretty good for us and I really believe our race car was even better.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested after the race that Ricciardo’s retirement was due to a failure to the energy store.
It leaves Red Bull fourth in the constructors’ championship on 20 points, two points behind fellow Renault-powered McLaren and Ricciardo the highest placed of the two drivers in seventh.
