Bahrain GP: Leclerc claims victory as both Red Bulls retire in closing laps

Charles Leclerc led every lap as he claimed an impressive victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver held off Max Verstappen for most of the race, but for a few moments in an epic battle after the first pitstop, and would gain redemption for his lost win at Sakhir in 2019.

However, much like Leclerc three years ago, Red Bull saw their race disintegrate in the closing laps as power unit problems forced both drivers to retire with the chequered flag in sight.

Race Review

Leclerc held the lead at the start ahead of Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen dropped Sergio Perez down to sixth.

George Russell also gained two places to seventh, while Valtteri Bottas lost eight places down to 14th from sixth.

Magnussen’s strong start didn’t last long as Perez and then Russell passed the Haas into Turn 1 as the Dane went too deep into the corner on both occasions.

Tyre degradation proved a key factor in the opening stint with Hamilton losing P4 to Perez before being the first car to pit on Lap 12.

The top three all pitted across Lap 15/16 with a one-lap earlier stop almost giving Verstappen the lead via an undercut.

For three straight laps, Max used a massive speed advantage on the straight to overtake Leclerc into Turn 1, but the Ferrari was able to re-pass into Turn 4 to remain in the lead.

Red Bull attempted the undercut again at the second pit stop but Verstappen was not as close when the Monegasque responded a lap later.

Carlos Sainz ran third ahead of Perez and the two Mercedes’ in fifth and sixth.

With Leclerc able to pull ahead, Red Bull switched to a 3-stop strategy putting both drivers onto soft tyres with 14 laps to go.

Ferrari would pit Sainz while Charles stayed out, but the prospect of a chase to the finish was ended by Pierre Gasly retiring as his AlphaTauri caught fire.

That triggered a Safety Car that allowed Leclerc to pit and remain ahead, at the same time, Verstappen also began to complain of power steering issues on his car.

At the restart, it was Sainz putting pressure on the world champion for P2 into Turn 1 as his teammate led away comfortably.

It was then Red Bull’s race unravelled as engine issues for Verstappen and Perez forced both into retirement in the closing laps.

That gave Ferrari their first victory and 1-2 since the 2019 Singapore GP as Leclerc led Sainz across the finish line.

Hamilton inherited third ahead of teammate George Russell as Mercedes did the ultimate damage limitation.

Kevin Magnussen, who wasn’t even on the F1 grid two weeks ago, scored Haas’ first points since 2020 in fifth.

Bottas recovered from his terrible start to claim sixth ahead of Esteban Ocon in seventh, who had Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso in ninth.

Yuki Tsunoda was the only Red Bull/Honda-powered car to reach to finish in eighth, as Zhou Guanyu claimed a post on his F1 debut in 10th.

A gamble to stay out during the Safety Car didn’t pay off for Mick Schumacher, who still claimed his best result in F1 in 11th.

Further down, McLaren ran at the back of the field for most of the race, eventually finishing 14th and 15th.

Williams had a mixed race with Alex Albon running just outside the points and ending 13th while Nicholas Latifi was 16th.

Super-sub Nico Hulkenberg was the final finisher in 17th for Aston Martin.

Full results from the Bahrain Grand Prix can be seen below: