The Bahrain Grand Prix was a difficult race for Max Verstappen as he failed to progress into the top five positions.
The Dutchman finished in sixth place after a last-lap move on Pierre Gasly, which was prompted by a mid-race Safety Car after Red Bull elected to stay out and jumped a few drivers who decided to pit.
Verstappen had been complaining about his RB21 throughout the race, after experiencing braking issues in qualifying.
Senior Red Bull staff were seen having an ‘intensive meeting’ after the Bahrain GP following Verstappen’s comments, with the team only taking away nine points between the Dutchman and Yuki Tsunoda.
After the race, Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen was seen having a heated argument with Helmut Marko according to Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz.
Max Verstappen’s manager has heated argument with Helmut Marko after Bahrain GP
Verstappen could be heard complaining about the lack of grip throughout the race, having also told his team not to make a setup change to his car in the minutes before the start.
After failing to make any progress into the top positions, Kravitz says Verstappen’s manager confronted Marko following a difficult race for the team.
“At the end of the race I was waiting around the pit garages and Raymond Vermeulen, Max’s manager, came into the Red Bull garage and gave Helmut Marko what can only be described as a right piece of his mind,” said Kravitz.
“He was remonstrating towards Helmut Marko and he was just standing there taking it, and then Reymond stormed off at the back of the garage taking his pass off. Clearly they are not happy.”
Max Verstappen drops to third in Drivers’ Championship
Verstappen headed into the Bahrain GP off the back of a dominant victory in Suzuka, in which he led the race from pole to take his first win of the season and move to within a few points of Drivers’ Championship leader Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri’s victory in Bahrain now puts him within four points of Norris, while Verstappen has now slipped back to third in the points table.
| Driver | Points |
| Lando Norris | 77 |
| Oscar Piastri | 74 |
| Max Verstappen | 69 |
| George Russell | 63 |
| Charles Leclerc | 32 |
Red Bull have been dealing with similar problems they faced in pre-season testing with the RB21, which is known for being a tough car to get into a setup window.
Verstappen will be hoping they can turn things around in Saudi Arabia, otherwise Red Bull risks having Mclaren run away heading into the European races.
