Bahrain Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc wins in Ferrari 1-2 with Lewis Hamilton in third
Charles Leclerc WINS the Bahrain Grand Prix in a Ferrari 1-2 from Carlos Sainz… as Lewis Hamilton takes a stunning podium after BOTH Red Bull’s retired with mechanical issues
Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 from Carlos Sainz to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix The Ferrari driver had an epic battle with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen with both drivers passing each other Verstappen looked certain to finish second only to retire from the race late on to promote SainzLewis Hamilton took advantage of Sergio Perez’s spin and retirement to take what was a shock podium Ferrari claimed their first victory since the 20198 season while it was a disastrous day for Red Bull
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle- -.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle- -.css”);
<!–
Charles Leclerc won the opening Formula One race of the new era by taking victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position – and Lewis Hamilton took a shock podium place as Red Bull imploded.
The Monegasque led virtually every lap to give Ferrari their first victory since Singapore in 2019, surviving a potential scare when a late safety car came out to cut his lead of five seconds over Max Verstappen to nothing.
But Leclerc held on fine with eight laps remaining. Verstappen retired soon after and his team-mate Sergio Perez spun to a stop with engine failure on the penultimate lap.
Charles Leclerc took his first victory since the 2019 season after producing a brilliant drive to win the Bahrain Grand Prix
Leclerc celebrates with his mechanics after a tough race in which he won out in a hard battle with Max Verstappen who eventually retired
Carlos Sainz (right) looked like he to take third before passing Verstappen towards the end of the race to secure the 1-2
Max Verstappen reported problems after his late pit-stop and eventually slowed and retired after complaining of steering issues
Mercedes were well off the pace but took advantage of Red Bull’s problems to take third with Lewis Hamilton while George Russell came home in fourth
By default Hamilton finished third, two places ahead of where he started, on a night that, despite the late luck, underlined the hard task Mercedes now face in fight their way back into contention across the 23-race season.
The Briton had been more than half-a-minute from the top before the safety car came out when Pierre Galsy’s AlphaTauri caught fire. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished fourth.
Verstappen had three times jousted with Leclerc for the lead – the most entertaining early vignettes on an evening that did not quite live up to the hype and hope about close racing.
Carlos Sainz finished second for Ferrari, though a long way off his partner for most of the proceedings, and never as comfortable in the car.
In terms of pure pace, Ferrari and Red Bull are way ahead of the rest. So much for levelling up by transforming the regulations!
The race sparked back to life towards the end after Pierre Gasly pulled off with a mechanical issue to bring out the safety car
Sergio Perez had been running in third until, like Verstappen, he hit mechanical issues and retired from the race
Hamilton made a fine start taking Perez at the second corner, a left-hander, to move into fourth before the Mexican took him back on lap 10.
Mercedes made the seemingly strange decision to put Hamilton on hard tyres – most moved from softs to mediums. He was passed on his outlap, skating as if on slicks in the rain as he struggled to get heat into them, by Guanyu Zhou, the Alfa Romeo new boy from China.
He retook the spot and proceeded, via another stop, into fifth.
It was a shocking day for McLaren with both their cars lapped. Lando Norris finished 14th and Daniel Ricciardo 13th.
Kevin Magnussen did a fine job on his return to Formula One to finish fifth in the Haas ahead of Valtteri Bottas in sixth
Guanyu Zhou scored a point on his debut in the Alfa Romeo as he took advantage of the retirements of both Red Bull
Sportsmail’s Kieran Lynch provided live updates in the blog for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
