Sparks flew from the wheels of the blue racing car, high up in the Bahrain night sky. Two drivers, both 24 years old, raced their cars around the bends. Two pilots of the same generation, whose duel had been promised three years ago when they had a memorable hunt on a hot summer’s day in Spielberg, now dueled in the rocky desert of Sakhir. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen chased around the course for three laps, rubbing against each other. And they kept showing the same maneuvers and swapping places. The Dutchman passed at the end of a long straight and braked so late that it was surprising that he managed to get through the corner. Sparks flew like stardust. Then Leclerc sucked himself into his slipstream and countered. Until Verstappen started the next attempt in the next lap and Leclerc couldn’t be shaken off again.
It’s okay to love it when a plan works. And the dazzling idea behind the all-new aerodynamics concept that Formula 1 has been using since this season was that overtaking maneuvers should be simplified. Now that the first performance has taken place, and Leclerc actually under all kinds of deserved fireworks in front of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who not only drove home Scuderia Ferrari’s first victory since September 2019, but also the first double victory since then, objectively to be congratulated: Formula 1 has carried out a powerful reset. The old balance of power has been shaken.
And they would have been if Team Red Bull hadn’t been slowed down by two ominous defects shortly before the end: Verstappen slowed down, complained that his battery was not charged, and climbed out of the car. Sergio Perez, who would have finished third behind him, spun and didn’t see the finish line either. According to their sports director Helmut Marko, both drivers dropped out because “they couldn’t get any more petrol from the tank to the engine”. And so Mercedes was very lucky. Without the bad luck of the competition, the serial winner of the past eight years would have dragged his Silver Arrows to the finish in places that he had to research on the Internet in the recent past to make sure of their existence: Lewis Hamilton would have finished fifth, George Russell sixth. Now they were suddenly third and fourth.
Ferrari seems to be rewarded for giving up last season early
“That’s exactly how you start a new season,” Leclerc rejoiced on his lap of honor: “First and second place, baby, one and two! Mamma mia!” And Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff congratulated: “Charles was a force today. He dominated the race at will.”
The new technical regulations, which had been worked on since 2017, had already suggested in qualifying that they could start a revolution. At the start of the season, a red racing car actually took pole position, followed by a blue one, followed by a red one, followed by a blue one. The first silver racer? fifth place! On board Hamilton, the seven-time world champion. And he was not disappointed in view of this parking bay, which was very unfamiliar to him, but satisfied.
A tailor-made start: Charles Leclerc (right) and Carlos Sainz.
(Photo: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)
The new aerodynamics of cars, which increasingly cling to the asphalt via the air flow on the underbody, means that many cars are subject to the phenomenon of so-called “porpoising”. With increasing speed, the vehicle is sucked more and more onto the track until the flow breaks off again – and returns again. Nobody hops as hard as the pilots in the Silver Arrows. “We need a few races to sort ourselves out, then we’ll be back,” announced Wolff.
The Scuderia Ferrari is not only back, but has risen from the ruins. After the completely screwed up past two years, Leclerc pushed his racing car to the tenth pole position of his career right at the start; Team-mate Sainz lined up behind Verstappen in third place. They now seem to be rewarding themselves at Maranello for giving up last season early and opting for the development of the all-new car instead.
Because even behind the front, the reinvigorated Ferrari engine caused turbulence in the previous ranking: Valtteri Bottas placed the Alfa Romeo in sixth place at the first appearance with the Swiss team, Kevin Magnussen pushed the Ferrari Customer car in seventh place – five places ahead of Mick Schumacher, who crossed the finish line eleventh on Sunday. The last was Niko Hülkenberg, who had climbed into his Aston Martin as a replacement for Sebastian Vettel, who was suffering from Corona.
In Bahrain, there are a number of sights that are incompatible with old viewing habits
The traffic lights went out in Bahrain and Leclerc didn’t give Verstappen the slightest pause. The leading three rounded the first corners in the same order; behind them came Hamilton and Magnussen, both of whom managed to get past Perez. Further back, Esteban Ocon’s Alpine touched Schumacher’s Haas. The Frenchman received a five-second penalty, Schumacher spun, fell back and leveled off in 13th place.
In Bahrain, viewers were presented with a series of sights that were incompatible with old viewing habits. At the front rolled a Ferrari whose speed could only be maintained by world champion Verstappen. And after ten laps, Perez shot past Hamilton, who gave the Mexican way so fair that it was obvious how little confidence he had in his car’s speed.
Surprising obstacle: Lewis Hamilton (front) gets past Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull spins, forcing him to submit.
(Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Hamilton tried his luck in an alternative strategy, he was the first driver to pit. As he pulled back onto the track, he slid through the turns like he was riding a sled in the snow. “Guys, I have no grip,” he radioed to his team. Verstappen followed three laps later. He had soft tires screwed on again, with which he now tried to put Leclerc under pressure. But the Monegasque defended his lead by a hair’s breadth when he turned back onto the track a lap later after changing tires. For three laps, Leclerc and Verstappen offered that brilliant duel that strained the tires and definitely also the nerves of the Dutchman.
After 28 laps, Hamilton opened the second round of tool visits, at the end of which the old order stood. Verstappen complained to his team that he had twice been asked to slow down the lap he was driving when Leclerc paused in front of him in the pits. “I’ll never do that again,” he grumbled. Consequently, he headed for the supply lane at his third stop in front of Leclerc, who only followed suit when the safety car rolled onto the track because of Pierre Gasly’s car that was on fire and brought the field together again. There was another rolling restart – but this time Leclerc didn’t give Verstappen a chance either.
It remains to be seen why both Red Bulls ran out of petrol. But Ferrari is back with full force, that’s already clear. This is good news not only for the team from Maranello, who have been sad for far too long – but for Formula 1 as a whole. “The team put so much time into getting a good car,” said team boss Mattia Binotto. ” Too long.”