Three-time and defending Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen kicked off his season like the majority of his campaign last year — on the top step of the podium.
Starting from the pole in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen controlled the event as he scampered to victory by over 22 seconds.
“It’s unbelievable,” Verstappen said. “I think today went even better than expected. I think the car was really nice to drive, on every (tire) compound I think we had a lot of pace. It was just super enjoyable to drive today, we really stayed out of trouble and it’s a great start to the year – it couldn’t have been better.”
Joining the Red Bull Racing driver on the podium was teammate Sergio Perez in second and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third.
Battery issues plagued both Mercedes drivers as George Russell led the team in fifth. Seven-time F-1 champion Lewis Hamilton placed seventh despite problems throughout the race.
“It was a strange day today. Both Lewis and I faced a similar issue,” Russell said. “The power unit was overheating from very early on, so we were managing that throughout. It was a shame as we made a really good start. I managed to make a good pass on Leclerc for second but very quickly, I had warnings on my steering wheel.
“To manage the overheating, we were losing tenths-of-a-second per lap, and it was very difficult to hold off anyone behind me. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to show any real potential of the car.
“Thankfully, it’s not an issue we need to be concerned about. We got the cooling configuration wrong. We just need to understand why, and make sure we don’t do that again. It was simply an incorrect decision; we’ve got plenty of margin to cool the power unit more. I think without the issue we would have been in the fight for P3. It’s only the first race of the season so let’s see what we can do next week.”
Both McLaren entries tallied top-10 results with Lando Norris placing sixth and second-year driver Oscar Piastri earning an eighth-place finish.
Rounding out the top 10 was Aston Martin with anchor driver Fernando Alonso in ninth, followed by teammate Lance Stroll in 10th.
The American team of Haas F-1 struggled throughout the event on the Bahrain Int’l Circuit with Kevin Magnussen leading the way for Haas in 12th. Nico Hulkenberg endured issues after tagging Stroll on the first lap, which forced Hulkenberg to pit for a new front wing. He’d place 16th.
The series heads to Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the second round next week for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.