Verstappen recovers from ‘ridiculous’ setbacks to finish 6th at Bahrain GP

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — From first to last — at least briefly — in the space of a week.

A qualifying master class put Formula 1 defending champion Max Verstappen on course for victory in Japan last week but on Sunday in Bahrain he was far off the pace. At one stage Verstappen even ended up in last position in the race, before recovering to finish sixth and minimize the ground lost in the standings.

Verstappen started seventh but steadily lost places — including being overtaken by 18-year-old rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his old rival Lewis Hamilton — and complained of tire wear, brake problems and overheating.

“I can’t even brake any more,” Verstappen told the Red Bull team. “It’s just ridiculous.”

There were problems, too, with the lights that indicate when a driver can leave the pit, costing Verstappen yet more time. His second stop left him in 20th position midway through the race.

Gradually, he turned it round. Verstappen made the most of his troublesome car to get back into contention and he swooped past Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for sixth on the last lap.

That was “at least a positive result considering all the things that went wrong today,” Verstappen said. “This was not the weekend that we wanted but we have to keep on trying to improve.”

It was Verstappen’s worst result of the season but still left him just eight points off standings leader Lando Norris. Finishing any lower than sixth would have been the Dutch driver’s worst result in a race since 2022, except for cases of car failure.

An unwelcome streak ended for Red Bull as the team scored points with both cars for the first time since the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November. Yuki Tsunoda was ninth in his second race for Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson, and one he called “another learning curve.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing