Max Verstappen rolled into the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13, 2025, riding high off a stunning win in Japan just a week earlier, trailing championship leader Lando Norris by a single point. Fans expected the four-time world champion to bring his A-game, but what unfolded at the Bahrain International Circuit was a curveball nobody saw coming.
On Saturday, where Verstappen’s Red Bull RB21 felt like it was fighting him every step of the way. He struggled with brakes that wouldn’t cooperate, radioing in, “My brakes are just terrible. I can’t brake at all. So bad.” Grip was another issue—the car slid around on Bahrain’s abrasive track like it was on ice. He barely scraped into Q3, burning an extra set of tires just to stay alive, and ended up a disappointing seventh on the grid. To make matters worse, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda wasn’t faring much better, landing in tenth. For a guy who’d just pulled off a pole-to-flag masterpiece in Japan, this was a humbling moment. “There’s something really wrong with the car,” Verstappen said over the radio, and you could hear the frustration in his voice.
Race day didn’t bring much relief. Starting P7, Verstappen was hoping to claw his way up, maybe snag a podium if he played his cards right. But the RB21’s problems didn’t vanish overnight. People captured the chaos during his first pit stop, where the front right tire got stuck, costing him precious seconds. “Another disastrous stop,” one user noted, pointing out Verstappen’s head shake as he rejoined the race in a dismal P19. On hard tires, he struggled even more, complaining they were overheating and making braking a nightmare. Lewis Hamilton zipped past him for P8 like it was nothing, a moment that stung for the reigning champ.
Verstappen fought back, eventually crossing the line in eighth place, but it was a far cry from the podium he’s used to. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, turned his pole position into a commanding win for McLaren, with Charles Leclerc and George Russell rounding out the top three. Norris, despite his own qualifying woes, managed P6, holding onto his championship lead. For Verstappen, the gap to Norris grew to seven points—not a disaster, but a dent in his hopes of a fifth straight title. “I hope that I can stay a bit with the Mercedes and Ferraris,” he’d said before the race, but even that felt optimistic by the end.
What went wrong? Verstappen pointed to the track’s low grip and high tire wear, which exposed the RB21’s weaknesses. “Here, you just get punished a bit harder when you have balance issues,” he told reporters, sounding more resigned than defiant. The team’s setup tweaks didn’t help either—unlike Japan, where they turned things around overnight, Bahrain left them stumped. Some fans on X speculated Red Bull’s pit crew was off their game, while others wondered if the car’s design just isn’t clicking this season. Either way, it’s a wake-up call for a team that’s been the gold standard for years.
Verstappen’s keeping his head down, already looking to the next race in Jeddah. “I’ll try to do the best I can,” he said, but you could tell the fire’s dimmed a bit. Bahrain wasn’t just a bad day—it was a reminder that even champs can stumble.