Max Verstappen won a rain-hit Bahrain Grand Prix which was farcically delayed by one hour and 33 minutes after multiple cars broke down in the wet conditions before George Russell’s outside world championship bid was derailed by a late engine failure.
asserted
bid → win → failure
Verstappen navigated his way through the chaos to claim his first triumph of the year.
uncertain
Verstappen → navigate → year
Kimi Antonelli took second with Lewis Hamilton completing a fine comeback drive from 18th to take the final spot on the podium.
asserted
Hamilton → take → podium
Russell had been running in third when he retired with just five laps left to leave his title dream all but over.
asserted
he → run → dream
But the race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was overshadowed by embarrassing scenes when this season’s new cars – which had already faced stern criticism – effectively failed to work in the wet.
asserted
which → overshadow → wet
Forty minutes after the initial getaway was pushed back following a deluge of rain, Formula One bosses had to abandon the start when a number of drivers, including Verstappen and Hamilton, were struck by software gremlins – directly linked to the controversial 50-50 split between combustion and battery power – and could not get their cars to operate.
uncertain
cars → push → combustion
The grid limped back to the pit-lane, and although the rain had long since stopped, a further 53 minutes passed before the green light was given by the sport’s chiefs to try again.
asserted
light → limp → chiefs
An explanation for the lengthy delay was not offered.
asserted
explanation → offer → delay
Two laps followed behind the safety car before a standing start.
asserted
laps → follow → start
Verstappen slipped to third but cleared Antonelli after another safety car period on the 13th lap and took the chequered flag 2.3 seconds clear of the championship leader.
asserted
Verstappen → slip → leader
Russell’s failure to finish leaves him 84 points behind Antonelli with only seven scheduled races, and a possible 183 points remaining.
asserted
failure → finish → races
The rearranged round in Malaysia, because of the conflict in the Middle East, marked the first meaningful wet-weather running this year and it unravelled in spectacular fashion.
asserted
it → rearrange → fashion
Pole-sitter Verstappen was the first to complain that he could not accelerate.
uncertain
he → complain → ?
That meant the following pack were virtually crawling around the Sepang circuit before Hamilton, second on the grid, then hit trouble in his Ferrari.
asserted
Hamilton → mean → Ferrari
“I am pressing the throttle, and nothing is happening,” he complained before stopping at the side of the track.
asserted
he → press → track
And behind, a whole host of other drivers were also struggling to keep their engines running.
asserted
host → struggle → engines
Attempting to explain the unprecedented scenes, Mercedes test driver Anthony Davidson said on Sky Sports: “What’s effectively happening is if you are off throttle for too long, the turbo spools down and when the driver puts their foot back down, it uses all the engine juice.
asserted
it → attempt → juice
“As soon as the battery goes flat, you are down to internal combustion engine power only.
asserted
you → go → power
It’s incredibly complicated and you fall into this horrible trap where the engine can’t reaccelerate because you are being penalised by this regulation.”
asserted
you → ’ → regulation
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Verstappen, the leading critic of this season’s rules, was eventually able to get up to speed.
asserted
Verstappen → read → speed
He laughed and shook his head upon seeing some of the cars parked at the side of the track.
asserted
some → laugh → track
“Look at this,” he said over the radio.
asserted
he → look → radio
Double world champion Fernando Alonso criticised the decision to abandon the start.
asserted
Alonso → criticise → start
“Why did they put out the red flag?” he said.
asserted
he → put → flag
The grid hobbled back to the pit-lane and an almost one hour-long delay ensued despite no further rain, and the track initially declared fit for racing.
asserted
track → hobble → racing
At 4.33pm local time – the fixture had been due to begin at 3pm – Verstappen peeled out of the pit-lane.
asserted
Verstappen → begin → lane
Red Bull and Mercedes elected for the intermediate tyres, while Ferrari and McLaren punted for slicks.
asserted
Ferrari → elect → slicks
It backfired for Ferrari and McLaren.
asserted
It → backfire → Ferrari
Russell leapt from seventh to second at the start with Antonelli assuming the lead, while Hamilton, desperately struggling on the dry tyres, fell back to as far as 18th and 80 seconds behind.
asserted
Hamilton → leap → tyres
Valtteri Bottas beached his Cadillac on the ninth lap and a safety car was deployed.
asserted
car → beach → lap
In came the leaders to change from inters to dry tyres, with Verstappen now ahead of Russell and in second.
asserted
Verstappen → come → second
The Dutchman then mastered the restart to swat Antonelli aside.
asserted
Dutchman → master → Antonelli
Russell also moved ahead of his team-mate only for Antonelli to move back past for second on lap 21.
asserted
Antonelli → move → lap
A lengthy safety car followed late in the fixture when Alex Albon stopped and his car, stuck in gear, could not be moved by the marshals.
uncertain
car → follow → marshals
Then, Russell’s afternoon, and quite possibly his title bid, came to an end as his power unit expired.
uncertain
unit → come → end
But there were no such dramas for Verstappen, while Hamilton completed a fine afternoon by passing Hadjar at the end to take his first podium since the British Grand Prix in July.
asserted
Hamilton → be → July
The Aporia
