Max Verstappen started where he left off. Red Bull records a double, the VC of Bahrain also offered the return of a legend to the podium!

The new Formula 1 season has officially started. On the Bahrain track, spectators watched another extra performance from both Red Bulls, picking up where they left off last year. Max Verstappen dominated the grand prix ahead of Sergio Pérez. The Red Bulls were joined on the podium by the ageless and legendary Fernando Alonso.

Charles Leclerc got off to a good start and quickly moved into second place. At turn four, Lance Stroll again showed himself in a bad light, hitting teammate Fernando Alonso. Valtteri Bottas also had a solid run, moving up from 12th to eighth.

Race pace was slightly troubling for Mercedes. There was even a situation where George Russell asked his engineer if Lewis Hamilton was slow on purpose or if he was struggling. And tyre degradation forced Mercedes to think about an early pit stop. And it came for Hamilton on lap 13.

On lap 14, the trio of Russell, Sainz and Leclerc headed to the pit stop. Almost all the drivers took their turns in the pit lane and the top 5 order after fifteen laps was as follows: Verstappen, Leclerc, Pérez, Sainz, Hamilton.

The Red Bulls put on unexpectedly red tyres for the second part of the race, which caused Pérez to start chasing Leclerc significantly. And going into the first corner of the twenty-sixth lap, the Mexican managed to move into second place. Both Red Bulls and both Ferraris finished together again.

It was interesting to watch the race pace of the Aston Martin chasing both Mercedes. On lap 37, Alonso and Hamilton clashed with each other, which almost led to a collision at turn four. A lap later, the Spaniard was ahead and had moved up to fifth.

After forty laps, the top ten are as follows: Verstappen, Pérez, Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, Stroll, Russell, Bottas and Albon. But for a long time the third place did not remain occupied by the Monegasque racer.

Leclerc got a new battery before the race, but it didn’t help him. His retirement on lap 41 made the Tifosi fans sad again. A virtual safety car mode was activated on the track. Gasly, Kuan-yu Zhou and Logan Sargeant, for example, headed to the pits.

But that wasn’t all for Ferrari fans. Alonso got on the back of Carlos Sainz’s monocoque and continued his incredible drive. And on lap 45, it came. The older of the Spanish duo took advantage of a mistake by his rival at turn 10 to take the podium.

Things calmed down slightly towards the end of the Grand Prix, with Sainz keeping Hamilton behind him and their duel representing the most exciting action on the Sakhir circuit. The focus then shifted to the duel for tenth place, between Alexander Albon and Júki Cunoda.

Verstappen was fearlessly leading the way, with a lead of more than twelve seconds over his teammate. We should not forget the fantastic performance of the Frenchman Gasly, who climbed from last place to ninth.

The Dutch two-time world champion dominated the Bahrain VC with a start-finish style. Unlike last season, Verstappen will take full points from Bahrain and will be the championship leader in Saudi Arabia in a fortnight’s time.

1. MaxVerstappen, 2. Sergio Pérez, 3. Fernando Alonso, 4. Carlos Sainz, 5. Lewis Hamilton, 6. Lance Stroll, 7. George Russell, 8. Valtteri Bottas, 9. Pierre Gasly, 10. Alexander Albon.

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