FORMULA ONE world champion Max Verstappen has hinted that his late retirement from Sunday’s Bahrain GP could cost him the title. Verstappen controversially beat Hamilton to last year’s title by just eight points, and the 24-year-old has hinted a zero point start to the campaign could cost him come the business end of the season. Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez also didn’t finish the race in what ended up being a nightmare weekend for Red Bull. Perez raced on after Verstappen retired, but spun out on the LAST lap while in third position to gift Hamilton a miracle podium. Verstappen also went on to claim he had difficulty steering his car throughout the race before the suspected fuel pump issue that ended his day prematurely. He said: “I mean, what happened at the end is obviously very frustrating, but of course before that, quite a few issues.

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