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Cape Town - Red Bull's Max Verstappen is regarded as one of the brightest talents in Formula 1. Many fans and experts believe the youngster could be a future GP champion.
Plagued by misfortune
While he possess talent in abundance he's been plagued by misfortune in 2017. To date, the Red Bull star has had seven Did Not Finish (DNF) classifications just this season, the latest of which occurred during the Singapore GP fiasco.
Four of the DNFs were due to technical issues with the the result of collisions. Verstappen has often been regarded as dangerous by rivals, even earning the moniker 'Mad Max'.
From brake failure in Bahrain to the bizarre Singapore GP fiasco, here is a breakdown of Verstappen's rather unlucky F1 season so far in 2017.
READ: Verstappen 'still a little wild' - Vettel
Verstappen's DNFs:
1. 2017 Bahrain GP
Although Verstappen was flying during the practice sessions, he only managed to qualify 6th on the grid. As the race began, Verstappen passed both Kimi Räikkönen and team mate Daniel Ricciardo to leapfrog into P4. After a solid showing, Verstappen entered the pits on lap 12. Re-emerging from pits, Verstappen's brakes failed forcing him to retire from the race.
2. 2017 Spanish GP
Verstappen, who won the 2016 Spanish GP with his debut with Red Bull, was fifth ahead of Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. However, Verstappen and Räikkönen collided during the first lap causing both drivers out of the race.
3. 2017 Canadian GP
Hoping to redeem himself, Verstappen qualified in P6 for the race behind Ricciardo in fifth spot. On lap 11, the action was paused when Verstappen pulled over and retired between Turns Two and Three, his engine having cut out.
4. 2017 Arzebaijan GP
Image: AFP
During Q3, Verstappen only managed a P5 spot despite challenging Vettel for P1. During the race, Verstappen told his team via the radio that he believed the radiator was damaged. On Lap 12 he complained about a lack of power eventually causing him to retire.
5. 2017 Austrian GP
In what was the only dramatic event of the race; Turn 1 saw Daniil Kvyat, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen clash, which took both the McLaren and the Red Bull out the race. The Austrian GP proved to be Verstappens fifth DNF of the season.
6. 2017 Belgium GP
As predicted, Verstappen and Ricciardo adopted the usual third row positions in P5 and P6 respectively during the race. "Fail one, fail, fail one, fail," was heard from the team radio on lap 8 as he pulled up directly in front of his fans with an engine failure, ending his race.
7. 2017 Singapore GP
It was set to be a Red Bull showdown at Singapore with Verstappen and Riccairdo qualifying for P2 and P3 respectively. Neverthless, Verstappen was sandwiched between Vettel and Räikkönen before Turn 1 with all three drivers out of the race.
