Verstappen/Leclerc in the wall at Sakhir GP start

Jamie Woodhouse
Max-Verstappen-Charles-Leclerc-s

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen got no further than Turn 4 at the Sakhir Grand Prix after tangling with Sergio Perez.

George Russell on his Mercedes debut had a fantastic start, taking the lead from team-mate Valtteri Bottas into Turn 1.

Verstappen who qualified P3 and Leclerc starting from P4 were also very much in the mix.

But when Bottas got out of shape in Turn 2, that gave Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez as well a sniff of P2 on the run up to Turn 4.

But when Perez attempted to go around the outside of Leclerc he would collide with the Ferrari driver, sending Leclerc in to the barriers while Perez dropped down the order.

The incident also forced Verstappen off the track, but carrying too much speed he simply didn’t have the turning angle to get out of trouble and went through the gravel and into the barrier, wrecking the front of his RB16.

Perez would pit for fresh tyres at the end of Lap 1 and fitted the medium compound. There was no clear damage to his Racing Point.

The stewards confirmed that they will investigate the incident after the Sakhir Grand Prix concludes.

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