First race of the season, great performance! Who won the VC of Bahrain?

After an eighteen-week hiatus, we have arrived. The first race. The Bahrain Grand Prix opened the new F1 season. What did the first race tell us and who came away with the win?

This year’s Formula One season is set to feature a record 23 Grands Prix, and the first of them was held in Bahrain at the Sakhir circuit. The introduction to the 72nd F1 World Championship got off to an interesting start in the warm-up lap of the race.

Sergio Pérez’s car simply went out about halfway through the opening lap and he was stuck on the track for several minutes. Fortunately, however, he was able to restart the systems via the kinetic generator and continue driving.

Due to this event, the Mexican driver was forced to start from the pits and was given an extra formation lap. After the first lap, we already witnessed the Safety Car going out, as Nikita Mazepin in the Haas car failed to control the steering and ended up in the wall.

The Safety Car ended its track time at the end of the third circuit, only to have its front wing clipped by Pierre Gasly on Daniel Ricciardo’s car and a virtual Safety Car condition was declared. It was terminated on lap five.

Max Verstappen retained first place after the start, with Charles Leclerc briefly moving into third. It was the Dutch Red Bull driver who complained of differential problems and was not happy with the condition of his car.

The Aston Martin’s race pace was noticeably worse throughout the race, mainly due to the many technical changes. Overtaking was very common in the middle of the field and the order was constantly changing due to frequent on-track battles, as well as pit stops.

Mick Schumacher was crouched at the tail of the field throughout the race. The son of the famous legend also had his work cut out for him. It was the owner of the Haas team who didn’t want to invest any more money, not only in the technical development of the car, but also in the team. Predictions speak clearly – Haas, or rather its drivers, will have to get used to such placements.

On the other hand, there is enthusiasm in the McLaren stable. The team has found a loophole in the rules and solved the placement of the blades at the diffuser to their advantage, and they are running Mercedes engines again after years. It really showed on the track, the McLaren was really fast on the straights and the car looks very strong and confident.

Ferrari have also seen an improvement, with Charles Leclerc maintaining a solid pace. The tragic performance continues for Sebastian Vettel, who had a very different vision of his first race with his new team. Fernando Alonso was at the bottom of the points all the way, but retired on lap 33 due to rear brake failure.

Valtteri Bottas, who had a problem in the pits when changing tyres on lap thirty-one, was incensed.

The end of the race was particularly thrilling, as Max Verstappen lost the lead in his story and Lewis Hamilton took the lead, retaining the race lead despite a final push from Max Verstappen.

The final standings are therefore as follows:: seven-time champion Hamilton saw the chequered flag first, ahead of Verstappen. Finnish driver Bottas finished third, earning an extra point for the fastest lap of the race.

Fourth place goes to Lando Norris in the McLaren, who drove a superb race and stayed on top throughout. Fifth place went to Sergio Pérez, who showed his new employer not only his experience but also his skills. This season we can expect some really great performances and many podiums from him. He will be a great help to his teammate in the fight for the world championship.

Leclerc crossed the line sixth ahead of Australian Ricciardo. The latter got to know McLaren very well and also gave a very good performance. Eighth place belongs to Sainz, who showed his predation to the team from Maranello. Together with Leclerc, we can expect them to be a little higher.

Ninth place – Yuki Cunoda. He had a great debut. He took on four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and also took on Räikkönen. Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin rounded out the top ten. The first two non-scoring positions were taken by Alfa Romeo drivers.

Thirteenth went to Ocon in his Alpine, ahead of George Russell’s Williams, Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin and Mick Schumacher’s Haas. Gasly, Latifi, Alonso and Mazepin did not finish the race.

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