Sirotkin on debut: It didn't go as expected

Rookie Formula One driver Sergey Sirotkin has looked back on his debut in the sport in Australia at the weekend with regret, saying that "it didn't go as expected" as he was forced to retire due to a brake issue...caused by a rogue plastic bag.

Sirotkin is under plenty of pressure in his maiden season in F1, with his appointment at Williams coming with little fanfare and some sections of the sport labelling him as a 'pay driver' because he receives significant financial backing from his native Russia.

Unfortunately for the Russian, he was the first retiree of the new F1 season in Melbourne after a plastic sandwich bag somehow found its way into his brake mechanism, causing it to overheat.

Sirotkin has admitted the situation was certainly unexpected, but the main issue was that he couldn't get the learning experience from his first F1 race.

“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.” said Sirotkin

“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.”

The 22-year-old, despite the inauspicious start to his career in F1, remains admirably positive about the rest of the campaign and in particular the next Grand Prix in Bahrain, with him having already experienced the track in the GP2 Series.

“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.” Sirotkin continued.

“I’m sure we’ll get to where we deserve to be.”

It was altogether not a good weekend for Williams, as not only did Sirotkin retire, but his more experienced team-mate, Lance Stroll, struggled to a fourteenth place finish.