Max Verstappen’s chances of becoming Formula 1’s youngest ever worꦦld champion have taken a maꦡjor blow after he was forced to retire in the early stages of the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was running in a comfortable second place behind eventual race winnerꦗ Valtteri Bottas before encountering mechanical issues on lap 15.

♉When asked what the issue was w🔯ith his Red Bull, Verstappen told Sky Sports: “Well I suddenly just lost power, drive, got put into anti-stall. I don’t know what the problem is yet, I didn’t go back [to the team] yet. We will find out but of course, it’s not how you want to start.

“I thi🔯nk quite quickly you could see Valtteri was quite quick. I was trying to do my pace. It would have been an easy♛ podium. What can you do about it?''

Team principal Christian Horner was unable to explain what the issue was with Verstappen’s Red Bull but confirmed t🍸he issue on his car was not the same as Alexander Albon’s - who also failed to get to the finish. 

“It looks something totally different,'' Horner said. “It looks something on the power unit side with Alex but we don’t♏ know whether that’s a result of the knock that he’s had or a trip through the gravel. We need to get the car back𓆉. We turned the engine off as a precaution.

Horner believes Verstappen could have fought for the win due to the issues Mercedes faced in the second half 🌱of the race.

“Mercedes was very quick in that first stint but they turned the engines down after the first🌳 stop and as soon as they did that they came back into our straight-line speed,” he explained. 

“I think Max on that different strategy, 🌠it could have really played out well for him. The positives are that we were able to put together a competitive race but we’ve got some pace to find for this week for next weekend and some work to do. Oꦉf course, we will come back in a week's time and try to do a bit better.''