Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner says Max Verstappen has been struggling with a car problem since the start of the race, but he’s not sure how much it cost him in his fight with Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen led the race from pole position and kept his lead in the first stint, but when he came back from his first pitstop he lost a position to Hamilton who have pitted four laps earlier.
Although he caught up with Hamilton in the final stint, Verstappen failed to overtake him except when he was briefly in front after overtaking Hamilton off the track in Turn 4.
In the last three laps, Verstappen was no longer so close to Hamilton and failed to attack him, but both Verstappen and Red Bull are pleased to have been in such a good form in the first race of the season.
“First of all, congratulations to Mercedes, it was a great race today,” said Horner.
“We are all racers in this Team and to lose by such a small margin obviously hurts but the positive is that we have put in a strong performance all weekend and pushed Mercedes all the way.”
“Max was nursing an issue from early on, how much of an affect that had during the race I’m not sure but he drove his heart out as always and we can’t ask for anything more than that.”
“He got the pass done to re-gain the lead but ran out wide and was instructed to give the place back, which he did immediately and then he pushed Lewis to the line.”
Max Verstappen on the podium after finishing second in the 2021 Bahrain GP (Photo: Red Bull)Perez didn’t have good qualifying on Saturday as he failed to set a good enough time on medium tyres to make it to Q3, and during the warm-up lap his Red Bull RB16B stopped on the track.
The Mexican says that he was already ready to get out of the car, but somehow he still managed to start it and start the race from the pitlane.
“Hats off to Sergio as well in what was a great comeback drive for him, especially after starting in the pit lane,” Horner praised his new driver.
“He kept a cool calm head after the issue on the Formation Lap and was able to deliver a strong points haul.”
“I think the biggest winner today is the fans, this race sets up a great season and I really hope we see Lewis and Max have many more battles. The fact that we’ve been so competitive this weekend is a good signal for the championship.”
“If we’re frustrated with second place, then that’s not a bad place to be and shows the determination within the Team. We’re certainly in the fight and ready to take on the season.”
