Sirotkin "quite disappointed" after retiring on debut

Sergey Sirotkin was left disappointed following his debut in Formula 1. The Russian failed to see the chequered flag after a rear brake issue forced him to retire early on in the race. Sirotkin was running towards the rear of the field, having qualified in P19.

The 23-year-old became the first driver of the season to retire from a race, as he stopped his car down the escape road at Turn 13 on lap 4 of the Grand Prix. Sirotkin said afterwards that while the result was disappointed, so was the lack of learning.

"It didn’t go as expected and I’m not even talking in terms of the results, which we obviously wanted to achieve but didn’t," he said. "I’m talking about the learning, which we didn’t get. It’s a bit of a shame and I’m quite disappointed with that because it’s not ideal and it was not the easiest weekend for me.

"It was quite important to do a good race. Preparing for the Bahrain weekend, at least I know I have a good chance so we’re looking forward. In just two weeks we’ll be back at the track and we’ll work harder than ever. I’m sure we’ll get to where we deserve to be."

Teammate Lance Stroll explained that he was in the wrong engine mode at the start of the race, which is why Esteban Ocon was able to pass him. Stroll too had a difficult day, saying that he was trying to get to the end rather than race for position.

"We were in the wrong mode on the first lap and that is the reason Ocon got me," he reflected. "We also have none of the extra power we need for the safety car restart which is where I lost the place to Leclerc. We are just basically trying to get the car to the end of the race instead of racing. There was a lot going on today with big issues that cost us a lot of race time. I hope we can find the solution before Bahrain."

Fergal Walsh