Max Verstappen made an epic start to the Bahrain GP and was challenging Lewis Hamilton for ninth at the end of the first lap. He made a move into Turn 1 at the start of lap two and tried to squeeze the Mercedes on the exit, but simply failed to leave Hamilton enough room, clipped his front wing and developed a puncture.
At pretty much exactly the same time, Daniel Ricciardo’s car ground to a halt and was out. Verstappen limped back to the pits under the Virtual Safety Car and rejoined, but in last place and way behind the field, and retired shortly after.
And this is the team that we’ve all been expecting to potentially challenge for the championship…
