Max Verstappen said everything that could go wrong did go wrong after he could only manage P6 in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Dutchman went from race winner one week to nowhere near contention as balance and pit stop issues prevented him from challenging further up the grid.

Max Verstappen talks through Bahrain pains with Red Bull on the back foot

Any momentum gained by the Suzuku victory was quickly evaporated as both Red Bull drivers struggled throughout the weekend.

Verstappen qualified seventh and while the driver one place ahead of him on the grid, Lando Norris, recovered to third, the Dutchman moved up just one spot.

Post-race, Verstappen spoke in a calm fashion but was daming about the RB21 and its performance not just in Bahrain but throughout the year so far.

“The pace was very bad but of course, I didn’t expect the race that I had,” he told media including PlanetF1.com. “Basically everything went wrong that could go wrong.

“I think the position where I finished is, at the end of the day, the maximum that we could have done.

“The lack of balance is highlighted even more on this track. When you have no balance, worse tyre management than the others, then this track, it’s worse.”

The reigning World Champion, who now trails Norris by eight points, said the car was “even worse” on tyres this season but refused to be drawn on whether Red Bull showed a lack of urgency in solving the problems.

“I just feel like we are even worse on tyres somehow this year. It makes it just very complicated, because last year we were not too bad around here.

“Then people made improvements but I feel like we actually had a worse weekend last year.

“I’m okay. I mean, it’s what it is. I always try to do the best I can, even in disappointing or let’s say, frustrating situations. But you have to move on.

More reaction from the race in Bahrain

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What Lando Norris said to George Russell after ‘easy’ Oscar Piastri Bahrain GP win

“We keep discussing, keep trying to improve. We know that we have our problems. Even if you win a race, you know that doesn’t go away. I said that already last week.

“I’m not a guy that I think when you have positive or negative scenarios that you get influenced by them, just stay very neutral. So you just have to keep on working.”

To make matters worse, Red Bull suffered pit stop issues when the light board used to signal drivers to stop and go failed to work correctly. Verstappen described the incident as “not to our standards.”

Read next: Bahrain Grand Prix: Piastri schools the field amid Red Bull pit-stop chaos