Max Verstappen retired from Sakhir: 'Nothing I could do'

Published on 06 December 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen retired from the Sakhir Grand Prix in the first lap. The Dutchman had a relatively good start, but had to divert for Sergio Pérez, who touched with Charles Leclerc and spun. Verstappen came outside of the track and went through the gravel into the barriers. Leclerc also retired. George Russell seemed to be heading for a dream result in his debut for Mercedes, but because of errors at his pitstop and a puncture the Brit finished in the end in ninth position. Sergio Pérez benefited optimal from the issues at Mercedes and won the race. The Mexican, still without a seat for next year, won his Formula 1 career first race. Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll completed the podium.

“The start was okay, but after that the drivers around me were way to aggressive”, says a disappointed Verstappen after retiring from the race. “Valtteri made an error in turn two, so we were the three of us side by side. The gap was closing so I braked early to stay out of trouble, suddenly Charles dived to the inside of turn four. I tried to go over the outside to try not to damage my car, but there was nothing I could do.”

The accident could have been prevented according to the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver: “It was an unnecessary risk, you cannot just win two positions at once. That Charles could overtake me, that is fine. But to also try to outbrake Checo, who was not able to see what happened on the inside, that is very optimistic. In the end one car is in last position and two others are in the barrier. It was not necessary.”

It is just after eight o’clock local time when the lights go out for the start of the penultimate race of the season. Max Verstappen has a good start but dives side by side with Sergio Pérez into turn one. Then they go together with Valtteri Bottas, who lost his pole position to George Russell, into turn four. Verstappen stays on the safe side and brakes the first, but the oncoming Charles Leclerc touches the Racing Point of Pérez into a spin causing Max to divert. He ends up outside the track and through the gravel into the barrier:  end of race. Sergio Pérez can continue, but like Verstappen, Charles Leclerc has to retire. The stewards decide to bring out the Safety Car and neutralise the race.

At the end of lap six the race is restarted. George Russell stays in the lead, with behind him Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Lance Stroll forming the top six. When ten laps have past Russell has a two second lead to Bottas.

After twenty-five laps the order of the top six has not changed. George Russell still leads with a two second gap to Valtteri Bottas, after which there is a ten second gap to the man in third position, Charlos Sainz. In the following laps many of the drivers come in for a new set of tyres. Both Mercedes, the Racing Points, Esteban Ocon and Alexander Albon stay out. Ocon comes in after more than forty laps as the first of the six. Raceleader Russell comes into the pits in lap forty-five. The Brit changes to the hard tyre and comes out on track in second position. Teammate Bottas comes in four laps later, but the gap to Russell increases by more than eight seconds.

In lap fifty-six the Williams of Nicholas Latifi comes to a halt. The Canadian parks his car in such a way that a short Virtual Safety Car is enough to bring the car to safety. George Russel is still leading the race, but his lead to Valtteri Bottas is getting smaller. Sergio Pérez, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Alexander Albon form the top six after the pitstop of Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo.

Not much later Jack Aitken loses his front wing in the last corner. Because the wing lies on the racing line, the stewards decide to send out the Safety Car. Both Mercedes drivers come in, but everything goes wrong at the normally faultless German formation: the team mounts the wrong tyres on George Russell’s car who must return into the pits the next lap. The stop for Valtteri Bottas goes all but well, and the two drivers fall back into P4 and P5. Sergio Pérez is on the winning end and leads the race.

At the end of lap sixty-nine the Safety Car comes in. Sergio leads the race with behind him Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, George Russell and Carlos Sainz. George Russell is well underway on a new set of the medium tyre to make up for the damage. The Brit can overtake Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon, but with just over ten laps to go fate strikes, a puncture makes that Russell must make another pitstop. The twenty-two-year-old driver can get up to nineth position (including an extra point for fastest lap), but he had hoped for more. Sergio Pérez wins his Formula 1 career first race. Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll complete the podium after an eventful race.

Results Grand Prix Sakhir: