Verstappen dominates Bahrain GP, Perez and Alonso finish second and third
Max Verstappen took a commanding victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, leading from start to finish for his 36th career win. Verstappen took control from the start, building a comfortable lead despite complaining about rear locking.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull took control of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, dominating the race with a comfortable lead.
Verstappen cruised out of his starting grid box and never looked back, building a gap of over six seconds by lap 10, despite complaining to the Red Bull squad that downshifts gave him rear locking.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez who started from second place, lost his position to Leclerc at the start but managed to regain it after the first pit stops.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who had been challenging Perez for second, retired late on due to a mechanical failure, promoting Fernando Alonso to third place.
Alonso, who was making his debut with the Aston Martin squad, enjoyed a dream race, fighting his way up the field and even going wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton.
He managed to take forth place from Hamilton with an eye-opening move at Turn 10, and later overtook Carlos Sainz for third place with just over 10 laps remaining in the grand prix.
Carlos Sainz held on to fourth place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Lance Stroll rounding out the top six in the sister Aston Martin car.
Off the start line, Verstappen cruised out of his starting grid box but his team-mate alongside him failed to do so.
Perez was challenged by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz on the run to Turn 1, with the former moving ahead into second place.
Behind, there was drama between the two Aston Martin cars after Stroll tipped the back of team-mate Alonso into Turn 4.
The incident between the pair saw Alonso drop back behind both Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Russell, while Stroll, in ninth, moved behind Bottas.
On lap five, however, Stroll moved back into eighth as he overtook Bottas into the first corner.
The pit stop phase saw some interesting battles as well. Following his far-from-ideal qualifying session, Pierre Gasly was the first driver to make a pit stop on lap 10, switching from the Soft to the Hard compound.
Some of the midfield runners followed suit, with Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda also peeling into the pits on the following lap.
Ferrari opted to double-stack its cars on lap 14 while Russell followed both of the Ferrari drivers into the pits. Verstappen, who was cruising out in front, came in one lap later, as did Alonso.
However, Alonso's teammate, Stroll, lost out in the pit stop phase, with his out lap only enough to see him get ahead of Russell. Leclerc, Perez, and Alonso were the next to come in, with Alonso setting off in pursuit of Hamilton for fifth place.
The Virtual Safety Car that was issued during Leclerc’s retirement saw a number of drivers, who were fighting for the lower point positions, make a pit stop.
This included Gasly, who closed up to the back of Bottas in the latter stages but ran out of time to make an overtake.
Ultimately, Verstappen dominated the race, taking the checkered flag with a lead of 12 seconds over Perez. Alonso's impressive debut saw him take third place, with Sainz and Hamilton rounding out the top five.
Stroll, Russell, Bottas, Gasly, and Albon completed the top ten, while Esteban Ocon endured a nightmare race as he was handed several penalties before Alpine opted to retire his car.
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