Disappointment for Red Bull Racing in their 300th race

It would be a race-day to forget for Red Bull Racing as they marked their 300th race in F1 in Istanbul on Sunday.

Both Max Verstappen and Alex Albon looked at stages during the hectic Turkish Grand Prix to have the pace to claim victory, but mistakes from both cost them as they eventually finished sixth and seventh respectively.

Verstappen, usually a master in the wet conditions, dropped down the field as he made a poor start and struggled behind Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari during the opening stages. But as those in front pitted, he was able to gain ground on leader Lance Stroll. But when the Dutchman made a stop of his own, he was stuck behind Sergio Perez and attempted a bold move on the Mexican, spinning on the wet apron and requiring another stop, dropping him effectively out of contention.

"Today was just a very difficult race to be honest," he said. "The start was not great and I dropped back to fourth with the lack of grip on the dirty side of the grid. I got back up to third and tried to follow Checo through the kink but washed out massively which put me onto the green on the exit kerb and I had a big spin. I tried to keep it out of the wall but flat spotted my tyres and needed to pit.

"With fresh tyres of course you very quickly catch up with the guys in front but then you can’t pass. There’s just one line around here and already that line is very slippery and you just have to do the same line as the person ahead which is very frustrating. Also, the fact that the track wasn’t really drying meant we couldn’t switch to slicks so we had to stay on intermediates which just get destroyed pretty quickly.

"It was a complicated race with a mixture of just following the car ahead, having no grip and trying to survive! It's not been a great day and I guess it was just not meant to be.”

Albon meanwhile had quietly gained on those in front as well, making his way up to second behind the aforementioned Perez. But as his tyres went off, a spin and a pitstop of his own too saw him relegated down the order. Avoiding any repeat of the Red Bull crash between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Albon allowed Verstappen enough space to allow his team-mate to pass in the closing stages.

Albon said: “I have mixed feelings as everything was going to plan and it looked like we were on for the win but it was a strange race and finishing seventh is definitely confusing. We have been so competitive all weekend so today is a tough one to take.

"Both of us had poor starts but we picked our way through the field and when we pitted for inters, we had incredible grip and we were so quick. The pace was really strong but then we boxed for a second set of inters and we had no grip and no pace so there’s a bit of head scratching. It’s hard to understand but we’ll sit down and understand it as these conditions were so unusual.

"This weekend has been going really well, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made and some things on my side of the garage have definitely helped so I can’t wait to get out there in Bahrain and get going again.”