Verstappen's foot blamed for '150bhp power surge' in Bahrain

Red Bull has revealed the true reason behind Max Verstappen's sudden crash in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.

The Dutchman lost it in the first segment of the Saturday session, and later blamed a sudden surge of engine power for losing control of his RB14.

The explanation was viewed as a bit fishy by some of his colleagues, with fellow Renault-powered driver Nico Hulkenberg baffled by Verstappen's claims.

"I would like to know where the 150 horsepowers are coming from. Does he have a party mode as well?

"I haven't experienced that. It doesn't change from one lap to another. Let me put it like this – that’s Greek to me!"

• Hamilton and Verstappen put to rest Bahrain squabble

On a more serious note, Red Bull's Christian Horner shed some light on what exactly caused the sudden power rush.

"It wasn’t a stuck throttle," Horner told Motorsport.com.

"I think when he got high on the kerb there was an oscillation on the foot. It was fairly obvious.

"The gearshift around there has always been a bit lumpy, and I think it was a combination of that, pushing flat out, up on the kerb, oscillation with the foot – put a lot of stuff together, that’s what happens.

"So there’s nothing to read into it."

Renaults' own forensic study of Verstappen's telemetry revealed no particular hardware or software malfunction.

"The engine has done exactly what the throttle was asking, it was very clear,” he told Motorsport.com.

"It’s a determinist thing, cause and consequence, when you press on the throttle, something is happening to the engine. The engine has reacted in exactly the same way that it was supposed to react."

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