MAX VERSTAPPEN started his F1 title defence with a crushing victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old crossed the line with a whopping 22 seconds lead over his team-mate Sergio Perez.
He was congratulated by his Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who beamed for the first time in a while after being dogged by controversy.
The build up to this race had been dominated by one topic – the internal investigation into Horner surrounding claims of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague.
But he was given the green light to continue in his role after the grievance was dismissed by an independent report only to be plunged into a meltdown when an anonymous email claimed to have leaked contents of WhatsApp exchanges.
Horner, who had denied the allegations, would only comment to say that he would not respond to “anonymous speculation”.
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There had also been more tension with rumours of a simmering feud with Verstappen’s father Jos, potentially driving a wedge between his star driver and Horner.
But there was a clear show of support for Horner, who had arrived at the track in Bahrain early.
He had remained in his office in the Red Bull hospitality unit until going to the paddock gates to greet his wife Geri Halliwell around 4:15pm.
She was wearing an elegant cream dress and they strode through the paddock holding hands as the snappers got their shots before sharing a kiss.
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This was a message that shouted loud and clear that their relationship had not been damaged by the anonymous leak.
They chatted with Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, the Dutch billionaire businesswoman who owns 25 per cent of the second-largest brewer in the world bearing her surname, making her the richest person in the Netherlands.
Heineken are just one of the many team partners but perhaps the most significant level of business support came from Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai co-owner of Red Bull.
He has been in Horner’s corner for a number of years and owns the controlling 51 per cent of the energy drink firm founded by his father.
The remaining 49 per cent once owned by Austrian tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz now belongs to his son, Mark.
Yoovidhya and his wife had a photo in front of Verstappen’s car on the grid and stood either side of Horner.
Before the race, there was still some trepidation that a second salvo of WhatsApp files would drop in yet another anonymous email.
The previous day, there had been rumours of the same but they never materialised.
Once the grid cleared and we finally got the 2024 season underway it quickly became apparent that Verstappen remained in a class of his own.
He thundered away from the lights at a rate that was nearly a second a lap quicker than his rivals.
By the 10th lap, he’d stretched his advantage to eight seconds and by the time he made his pitstop on lap 18 it was a terrifying lead of 30.4 seconds.
He stopped for tyres and started making his lead back up again. It was impressive and demoralising in equal measure.
Last year, Verstappen had been unstoppable, winning 19 of 22 races.
There had been some hope based on pre-season testing that Ferrari and even Mercedes, would offer him more of a fight.
But on this evidence, it looks all too easy as he coasted to victory ahead of his Perez in second place.
As the TV camera cut to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, his gloomy face told a familiar story now for the Silver Arrows.
George Russell, who started in third place, finished in fifth. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile was seventh with McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris ahead of him.
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The rest of the grid have their work cut out if they are to stop the Dutchman from making it four titles on the spin.
It was a one-two finish for Red Bull and Verstappen, who had started on pole, also set the fastest lap to earn himself a bonus point.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
