Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has poked fun at Renault following their double retirement at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo retired within seconds of one another, on the same lap at the same corner, which caused a Safety Car. But prior to that, Max Verstappen had been closing on the limping Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and was just a couple of corners away from passing him to claim the final podium spot.
The timing of Renault's failures put an end to that though as the final two laps of the race were finished under the Safety Car.
"Renault blowing up unfortunately didn't help us see the podium," joked Horner. "It's ironic, isn't it? Whether they're in the car or out of the car!"
Red Bull famously split with Renault as an engine supplier this year following a switch to Honda power – it was a tumultuous relationship with Horner often expressing negative comments over its performance.
"He was unfortunate to miss out on what would have been an opportunistic podium following Charles Leclerc’s bad luck with the Safety Car at the end, which prevented him from progressing further as he was rapidly closing in on the cars ahead, but hopefully there will be more podiums to come soon."
Verstappen insists he nor the team deserved to finish on the podium given their pace and was happy to claim fourth.
"We were almost on the podium but it would have been down to luck as we didn’t have the true pace and really deserve it. Anyway, it was more unfortunate for Charles, but at least he’s still on the podium and I’m not too disappointed with fourth."
