Charles Leclerc kicked off Formula One’s new era with a victory for Ferrari as Red Bull dramatically lost both cars in the closing stages of the season’s opening race.
Leclerc led home Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in a one-two as Red Bull’s race imploded in spectacular fashion. First Max Verstappen, the reigning F1 champion, hit car trouble and dramatically dropped down the order after a late Safety Car restart. .
Verstappen had been chasing Leclerc for much of the race.
Sergio Perez was then running in third but spun at Turn 1, allowing Lewis Hamilton to claim an unlikely podium for Mercedes, ahead of new teammate George Russell.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished fifth in his first F1 back since returning to the team two weeks ago.
Before the dramatic final few laps, Leclerc had managed the race superbly from pole position, but he had to fend off Verstappen over three consecutive laps as the race reached mid-distanced. On lap 17 Verstappen caught and passed the Ferrari driver at Turn 1, only for Leclerc to get back the position at Turn 4, a situation which played out in exactly the same way one lap later.
On Verstappen’s third and final attempt he tried to out-brake Leclerc from a long way back but went into the corner too hot, running wide and letting Leclerc immediately back into the lead.
Verstappen’s complaints with the car started about 10 laps before his dramatic retirement from the race. The Dutch driver was complaining about his steering wheel being too heavy when he tried to turn into corners.
At the restart five laps from the end Verstappen was quickly fending off Sainz behind him, before his car gave up completely. Verstappen brought the car into the pits to retire.
Perez’s drama occured at the start of the final lap.
It meant Ferrari leaves Bahrain with maximum points while Red Bull, which looks likely to be its main title rival this year, leaves the opening race with zero to its name.
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