CHARLES LECLERC has kicked off the F1 season with victory in a dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix with a Ferrari one-two.
Carlos Sainz finished second as Lewis Hamilton snatched a late podium finish after Sergio Perez spun out.
While world champ Max Verstappen was forced to RETIRE in the closing stages of the race after challenging for top spot for most of it.
- TV channel: Sky Sports F1
- Live stream: Now TV
- Sunday, March 20: Bahrain Grand Prix (3pm)
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Stay up to date with all the latest from the latest from the Bahrain Grand Prix in our live blog…
‘A day for Ferrari celebration’
Carlos Sainz was also delighted after finishing second behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in Bahrain.
He said: “This is definitely a day to celebrate for the entire team. Starting the season with a 1-2 is the perfect reward for the tireless work they have done over the last two years and congrats to Charles on a solid win.
“We also want to share our joy with all our tifosi around the world because we always felt their support even when we were not fighting at the top.
“For me, I’m very happy with the result but I’m not particularly happy with my race. It was probably one of the hardest ones since I joined Ferrari. We’ll keep pushing next week in Saudi. Forza Ferrari!”
Christian Horner dismisses Verstappen claim
Max Verstappen believes Red Bull could have done a “better job” with their Bahrain Grand Prix strategy, but Christian Horner says the team just lacked pace.
Horner said: “The problem is it’s always a balance – what you take out the tyre early in the stint, you pay for later in the stint.
“I think possibly we underestimated the undercut. But I think Ferrari had the pace today that, had we got that track position, they would have made the overtake. So we just didn’t quite have their pace today.”
Hamilton buzzing with Bahrain finish
Lewis Hamilton declared there “was no better feeling” after his shock third-placed finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion relished the top-three finish and said: “There is no better feeling when you come together and have a result like this. Every point can make a difference. I have lost world titles by one point.
“We would not have expected [to get a podium. I woke up this morning hoping, super, super hoping that we would have a chance to fight, that we would have a car that’s better than we think. But we did struggle in the race. But George did a great job to get us third and fourth [which] I think is pretty remarkable given the problems that we have.
“The thing is with our car, we have a car that’s bouncing a lot everywhere. It’s not just in a straight line. We have very poor rear end through all the low-speed corners and all the medium-speed corners.
“The only place that is generally quite good is, relatively, in the high [speed corners] and then we are very slow in the straight line. So, I don’t know if it’s drag or if it’s power, we haven’t figured that out yet.”
Fuel problem for Red Bull
Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Mako has revealed that the same issue led to the two Red Bull cars of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez retiring in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
As revealed by Tobi Gruner on Twitter after Marko had spoken to Sky Sports Germany, both Bulls had the same problem.
He tweeted: “Helmut Marko confirmed that both Red Bull cars had the same problem with not getting enough fuel to the engine.
“Verstappen also suffered from a power steering issue that might have been caused by the jack during a pit stop.”
‘Hard racing’ for winner Leclerc
Charles Leclerc has explained how he stayed ahead of Max Verstappen as the pair exchanged first place position several times during the race.
He said: “It was on the limit, hard racing but we will always gave each other space which was nice.
“Following him into Turn 2 was a bit more predictable than what I expected or what I had last year so this was good but it was always very close.
“I would always try to brake very early into Turn 1 to get the DRS for Turn 4 and it worked out three times in a row so then I could keep my lead.
“It was also very tricky because I was struggling quite a lot with my energy and had to manage that too but then after the third lap [of overtaking] I was in a better window with it and could push again to have a bit of margin to manage my race.”
More Verstappen audio
Lap 46:
Lambiase: “Max, is the [steering] wheel heavy in both directions, so both left hand and right hand down?”Verstappen: “Everywhere, everywhere! It’s not even smooth. Like I have to *censored by F1* even on the straight”
Lap 52
As the Safety Car returned to the pits and the race resumed, it was quickly apparent Verstappen was not going to be able to mount a late challenge on Leclerc’s lead.The delayed radio messages continued to be broadcast.
Verstappen: “Mate, what’s going on with the battery?”
Lambiase: “Battery fine”.
Verstappen: “No, it’s not! What the f— is this?”
Max Verstappen race audio released
Audio of Max Verstappen’s angry mid-race outbursts have been released after the Red Bull star was forced to retire in Bahrain.
Lap 32
Verstappen: “OK this is now two times that I take it easy on the out-lap, that I could have been in front.“I am never, ever doing it again!”
Lap 43
Verstappen: “Mate, my steering wheel is suddenly very heavy…”Lap 44
Verstappen: “I almost can’t steer.”Lambiase: “Let me know if we need to box, Max,”
Verstappen: “No, just f—— tell me what’s wrong and I’ll try to handle it”
Leclerc hails “perfect” Ferrari start
Charles Leclerc was delighted with his team’s performance throughout the weekend in Bahrain.
He said: “It feels amazing, obviously after yesterday it already felt great, but we had to finish the business today and we did a one-two – so it’s the perfect start to the season.
“And I’m incredibly happy after the last two years, which have been very difficult for the team, for myself, for Carlos last year. We had to work extremely hard and… to finally prove all the work we did in the last two years is paying off felt amazing.
“So for now it’s started in the best way possible – pole position, victory, fastest lap, a one-two today with Carlos – we couldn’t hope for better.”
Perez explains reason for retirement
Sergio Perez has explained the reason why he spun out in the final lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which forced his retirement from the race.
He said: “I lost the engine.
“It locked the wheels completely and there’s nothing I could do. It looks like a very similar problem to what Max had.
“I think we were in the fight with Ferrari…in general there are a lot of positives to take but it’s hard to digest.
“We had the podium in our pocket but I started to some power and unfortunately I ended up with that issue.”
Lewis Hamilton expects car upgrades
Lewis Hamilton was pleased to pick up some points following an uncertain weekend in Bahrain.
Hamilton said to Sky Sports: “This is really the best result we could’ve got, of course it was unfortunate for the other drivers but we did the best we could and got the points.”
He also hinted that he is expecting some upgrades for the car: “I’m hoping. I know the guys are working hard at the factory.
“It’s not going to be a quick turnaround but we’ll keep our head down and keep working – there’s a long way to go.”
Verstappen on Bahrain GP disappointment
Max Verstappen has given his take on the race after relinquishing his second place late on due to an engine failure. He failed to finish.
The reigning world champion said: “We don’t fully know or understand why it happen. It happened after the tyres came on and I drove off.
“It wasn’t that the steering wheel just got heavy, It was almost impossible to steer. The faster I was going, there was like a second delay. Every time I was turning right, it took a while before something was happening.”
“That’s why my restart was very bad because I wanted to go on throttle but I couldn’t open my wheel because it was stuck. It was very hard out there, a lot of different issues we had to deal with and this is of course what you don’t what to have on the first race weekend.”
“The pace wasn’t amazing. Just a lot of things to analyse to be honest and of course you can say problems can happen but at this level it shouldn’t happen.”
“I didn’t really push on my out lap. I could have been ahead twice.”
Horner on Red Bull nightmare
Christian Horner has given his honest assessment of the race after both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez retired in the final stages.
He said: “It was a brutal race for us. It looks a similar issue on both cars, we don’t know exactly what it is yet but we have to understand what has caused it.
“Of course, he [Max Verstappen] was disappointed when looking at a comfortable second place, but I think Ferrari had a quicker car today so congratulations to them for a one-two finish. Finishing with no points is tough for us, but it is a long season.
“We have got to get on top of the car’s issues quickly. On the whole it was gutting not to get that podium today but we know we have got a good car, we just need to get on top of these reliability issues.
“The race between Max and Charles [Leclerc] was gripping. If we are going to have a season of that it is going to be quite some season.
“So the negative is zero points, but the positive is we know we have a great car.”
Pit stops galore
There were 58 pit stops in the race today. In 57 laps!
It was a chaotic, frantic, dramatic end but Charles Leclerc avoided it all as he took the first race of the season with a superb drive.
Russell reacts to fourth place
Briton George Russell has reacted to his fourth place finish as he begins life as a full-time Mercedes driver.
He told Sky Sports: “We definitely thought we would be able to carve our way into the field, so I am pretty pleased. We made a good start but we know our limitations.
“It was a difficult weekend with a great result, but we know we have a lot of work to do.
“I don’t know if we will find the silver bullet soon. While we will find it, it will be a few races before we unlock the true pace of the car.”
Race standings after Bahrain GP
So, one race in and here is how the drivers’ championship looks.
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 26pts
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 18pts
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 15pts
- George Russell (Mercedes) – 12pts
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 10pts
- Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 8pts
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 6pts
- Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) – 4pts
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – 2pts
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) – 1pt
Driver of the day
The official Formula 1 driver of the day goes to… Charles Leclerc! Would be a bit mean if he’d have missed out.
Honourable mentions to Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who finished fifth and sixth respectively.
More from Sainz
Sainz continued: “At the restart I had a strong chance because I had a clean restart behind Charles and Max. Max defended well to be fair.
“Suddenly I saw flashing red lights at the back of Max’s car and I thought ‘OK now’s my chance’ and I went for it. He was unfortunate, he was driving well enough to get for P2 but I had a good run on him.
“It is what it is and it’s good for Ferrari.”
Second place Sainz reacts
Carlos Sainz has reacted after securing second place behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
He said: “Well first congrats Charles and Ferrari. Ferrari are properly back with a 1-2, where the team should be. The hard work is paying off and we are there.
“For me it’s been a very tricky weekend I’m not going to lie. I didn’t have the pace today but I managed to hold it and bring the 1-2 for the team.
“I have some homework to do over the next few days and I’m sure I’ll come back stronger.”
More from Hamilton
Third place Hamilton continued: “It was such a difficult race. We did the best we could and are grateful for these points.
“The guys are working hard back at the factory. It is not going to be a quick turnaround.
“I do feel like we have been the best most unified team for so long. We all know to keep our heads down and keep working as there is a long way to go.”
Wolff on Mercedes race
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has given his take on how they can improve following Lewis Hamilton’s third place and George Russell’s fourth.
He told Sky Sports: “We were overwinged and had too much drag, mainly because we were lacking parts.
“Hopefully we can remedy that, but we will also leave no stone unturned on improving the power unit as well.”
Christian Horner speaks
Red Bull chief Christian Horner said: “A brutal finish for us.
“[This issue] could be a lift pump or a connector.
“Max was of course disappointed, when you’re looking at a comfortable finish.”
The top 10
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +5.5
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +9.6
- George Russell (Mercedes) +11.2
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +14.7
- Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) +16.1
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine) + 19.4
- Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) +20.3
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +22.3
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) +23
Ferrari winless streak ended
Incredible scenes as Ferrari end 45 race winless streak!
What a moment in Bahrain as the Italian anthem is played on the podium again.
Hamilton speaks
The Mercedes ace said: “It was great to see Carlos and Charles up there, so congratulations to them.
“This is really the best result we could have got.”
What drama
The F1 season has started how the last season finished with that dramatic victory.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
