Max Verstappen, the reigning Formula One world champion, had a dream starting to the season by main Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to a outstanding first-and-second end in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso taking the third spot in his extremely anticipated Aston Martin debut.
Mexican Perez took the chequered flag 11.9 seconds behind his teammate, whose win was the group’s tenth in 12 races stretching again to final July.
“Very lovely that, really good result. We had good race pace,” Verstappen, a scorching favourite for a 3rd successive title this season, informed the group on his slowing-down lap.
“That’s exactly the start to the season we wanted and needed. A perfect one-two,” he added.
As Red Bull celebrated and the night time sky crammed with fireworks, Ferrari have been left licking their wounds once more with Charles Leclerc retiring from third place and Carlos Sainz then overtaken by Alonso.
Verstappen in the meantime cruised on untroubled from pole place.
It was the primary time the Dutch driver had gained in Bahrain, the primary time he had triumphed in a Formula One opener and a marked turnaround from final 12 months’s race the place he retired and Leclerc gained.
Leclerc seized second place at the beginning from third on the grid and appeared good for the rostrum till he slowed and pulled over 17 laps from the tip, shouting “No, no, no! No power” over the group radio.
Ferrari blamed the breakdown, which triggered a digital security automotive interval, on {an electrical} downside with the facility unit.
“Of course we are disappointed, how could we not be? We knew we’d have to deal with tyre degradation but we had not expected reliability problems,” mentioned new group boss Fred Vasseur.
Veteran double world champion Alonso, in his 356th race, then handed Sainz with an exciting wheel-to-wheel transfer 12 laps from the tip and was voted Driver of the Day by followers.
“This is a lovely car to drive,” the 41-year-old Spaniard, the oldest driver within the race and changing retired four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel, informed his group.
“To come here and finish on the podium in the first race of the year, it is amazing what Aston Martin did over the winter to have the second-best car on race one. This is just unreal,” he informed the gang after the end.
Worst day
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes, who have been a great distance off Red Bull’s tempo and successfully the fourth-best group.
“That was one of our worst days in racing,” declared group boss Toto Wolff.
Canadian Lance Stroll gave Aston Martin extra factors with sixth, lifting them to a giddy second within the constructors’ standings.
It was a outstanding drive from the younger Canadian, who broke each his wrists and an enormous toe in a biking accident in Spain two weeks in the past.
“To finish sixth has made it worth enduring all that pain,” he mentioned.
George Russell was seventh for Mercedes with Valtteri Bottas eighth for Alfa Romeo and Pierre Gasly ninth on his Alpine debut after becoming a member of from AlphaTauri and beginning the race within the final place.
Gasly’s teammate Esteban Ocon picked up three separate time penalties earlier than retiring.
Alex Albon took the ultimate level for a markedly extra competitive-looking Williams, with U.S. rookie teammate Logan Sargeant a powerful twelfth.
Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou set the quickest lap however there was no bonus level as he completed exterior the highest 10.
Australian Oscar Piastri retired 14 laps into his debut, together with his stricken McLaren wheeled into the group storage after struggling an obvious electronics problem.
The 21-year-old had complained of gearbox issues and mechanics swapped the steering wheel when he pitted however he couldn’t restart.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
