Charles Leclerc won the first race of the F1 season in Bahrain with his teammate Carlos Sainz finishing second to give Ferrari a perfect 1-2 start to the season.
Lewis Hamilton managed to join the Ferrari drivers on the podium after both RB18’s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez failed to cross the finish line after going toe to toe with Ferrari for much of the race.
Verstappen continued his strong form trading leads with the pole sitter Leclerc but ultimately fell victim to the power issue and was unable to finish the race.
Verstappen, starting P2, attempted to undercut Ferrari’s pole-sitter Leclerc on Lap 15, cutting down what was a 3.5s deficit to just 0.35s which triggered a three-lap bout for the lead with Leclerc hanging on after Verstappen locked up into Turn 1 on Lap 19.
Safety car on lap 46 changed the complexion of the race with Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri cathing flames. Leclerc took the opportunity to pit and scampered off to the distance after the restart on lap 51 with Verstappen’s steering issue forcing the Dutchman to give up hope of winning the race.
