Unhappy Verstappen rues 'very important' points loss in Bahrain

Max Verstappen was understandably disappointed to leave a big bag of points on the table in Bahrain, insisting such a loss could prove decisive in the context of a tight championship battle at the end of the year.

From the outset, Verstappen was positioned as poleman Charles Leclerc's main challenger, with the pair engaging in a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle after the first round of pit stops.

But gradually, the Red Bull charger lost ground on his Ferrari rival, with the Dutchman later complaining about a heavy steering.

However, a late safety car period reset the gap between the front-runners and offered Verstappen a final chance to gain an upper hand over Leclerc.

But another gremlin crept into the works of the RB18, leading a frustrated Verstappen to complain over the radio about an apparent power unit issue, a problem later traced to a fuel supply problem that forced the Red Bull driver into retirement just four laps from the chequered flag.

Shortly later, the same issue dealt a blow to teammate Sergio Perez's chances of finishing on the podium, leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit with a proper meltdown on its hands.

"The big problem was what happened afterwards, which looked like there was no fuel coming to the engine and basically everything just turned off, and I rolled back into the pitlane," said the reigning world champion, explaining what occurred on the race's restart.

"It is not what you want, especially after having really positive test days and also a positive weekend. It looked like with the little issues that we had, to be in second place that would’ve been a very good result, 18 points, probably, with Checo fourth.

"But to retire with both cars at the end of the race is very disappointing."

• Read also - Horner: 'Brutal' double DNF for Red Bull likely caused by same issue

While a long road remains ahead, with 22 races on F1's agenda, Verstappen was still fixated on the heavy points loss of the day and its potential impact on his title chances at the end of the season.

"It is just disappointing, you always say to yourself and to the team as well, we have to score points, it doesn’t matter if it first or second in the first race," he commented.

"You could see that at Turn 1 at the start, I didn’t risk too much, also when I was fighting with Charles, it was all clean and I was happy with a second place here.

"But to lose so many points for the team is also very disappointing, because for the championship where sometimes it can be really tight until the end, these are very important points."

As the problems set in during his race, Verstappen frustrations grew, and with them a brassy attitude over the radio with Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

The 20-time Grand Prix winner was especially unhappy with how his outlaps had been managed after his pit stops, when he was urged by his team to exert caution which didn't allow him to undercut Leclerc as planned.

"I don’t hold back," justified Verstappen. "I say what I think in the car and I was not happy with what we were doing or with the balance of the car or with the strategy.

"It wasn’t necessarily directed to GP, I have a really good relationship with him. Of course he’s the only one I can talk to, but we have to analyse quite a few things."

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