Verstappen: Red Bull engineer forced me to drive SLOWER in Bahrain

Max Verstappen produced a dominant victory to kick off his bid for a third consecutive world title but it could've been even more comprehensive were it not for his race engineer.

The 25-year-old Dutchman blitzed the field in a lights-to-flag victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing almost 12 seconds clear of team-mate Sergio Perez and over 38 clear of third-placed Fernando Alonso.

But Gianpiero Lambiase was in Verstappen's ear telling him not to push unnecessarily hard during the race, the two-time world champion revealed afterwards.

"After that first stint, I just drove home," discussing the somewhat facile nature of victory with Dutch broadcaster Viaplay. "Of course, I had a big gap right away and after that, we didn't really need to push anymore.

"Every time I wanted to push a bit, GP (Gianpiero Lambiase) – my engineer – got angry, so of course that says enough about the race.

"Of course, I'm very happy, it's obviously a top start to the season and a very different start to last year."

That's compared to last year, when Verstappen retired from the race with a power issue.

That same unfortunate fate befell his closest 2022 challenger in the title race, Charles Leclerc, on Sunday.

READ MORE: Verstappen delivers masterclass as Alonso stuns and Ferrari crumble

Verstappen: We have to make sure we keep developing

The way Red Bull bounced back from that situation though, gives reason to be cautious, says Verstappen.

"[Last year] we were in the situation Charles is in now, in which, of course, you're very disappointed," Verstappen said.

"But as you also saw last year, things can turn around very quickly. So we do have to make sure we keep developing."

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