THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
“ Sometimes you have a bit of luck , like last year , sometimes you don ’ t as we can see this year ,” Verstappen said . “ It was shame to not be able to take part in the race after the incident as I think with this weekend ’ s upgrades it could have been fun and we could have got a good result .”
But the game of inches played at blistering speed turned against him this time . Verstappen ’ s race was over just seconds after it began when his car was on the receiving end of a knock between Valtteri Bottas ’ Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen ’ s Ferrari .
With the trio starting just behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and F1 leader Sebastian Vettel on the grid , they all immediately jousted for position and entered the first turn side-by-side .
Bottas ’ slight nudge of Raikkonen caused a chain-reaction , sending Raikkonen into Verstappen . The collision damaged the front suspensions of both cars , knocking Raikkonen off the track and forcing Verstappen to hobble back to the garage for good .
“ An unfortunate start to the race which ultimately finished it also ,” Verstappen said . “ I tried to go around the outside as there was plenty of room there . If Valtteri had not touched Kimi , we all would have had enough room to get through that corner .”
This was his second did-not-finish this year after Bahrain , when his brakes failed , sending him into the wall . Otherwise , Verstappen has shown evidence of being the best driver outside the top four drivers for Mercedes and Ferrari . His best result was third place in China , with two more fifth-place finishes when he has stayed on the track .