Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took first place in the Spanish Grand Prix and won for a third consecutive place to lead the World Championship standings, helped by the departure of Charles Leclerc from Monaco when he was leading the race.
He was followed by Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez at the Catalan circuit at Montmelo, while British Mercedes driver George Russell ended his podium contract with a third-place finish.
The Dutchman won the course that made Category 1 history in 2016 when he became, at 18 years and 228 days, the youngest driver to win a World Championship round.
Fate played a part in this race as Leclerc was comfortably on pole position until lap 28 when his Ferrari began to slow down due to loss of power to get back into the pits and out of the race.
After leading the World Championship by 19 points, Monaco’s son exited the race in Catalonia in second, six points behind Werstein before he races at home in Monaco next week.
Verstappen had to overcome his early wobble when high winds and a technical problem pushed him off the track onto gravel.
“It was a difficult start, but a good finish! I tried to focus and it’s not always easy,” he said after the race.
Mercedes, on the other hand, showed a marked improvement after a rocky start to the season with Russell in third place, while teammate and compatriot seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton fought his way to fifth after an engine problem and a puncture on his debut. round.
Hamilton trailed Spaniard Carlos Sainz, another Ferrari driver, and finished in fourth place after an early miss and a run off the track, taking advantage of the Brit’s problem in the final laps.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas finished sixth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Okon who finished seventh.
Perez was pleased with the result, although upset. “I’m happy with my first podium in Spain,” said the Spaniard. “Everything was close and I’m happy for the team, but we need to talk later.”
Regarding Russell, he said: “Today was very difficult. I did everything I could to stop Max, but he did a great job.”
In front of a crowd of approximately 121,000 spectators, the race started in hot conditions with an air temperature of 36 degrees Celsius, and a temperature of 49 degrees was recorded on the surface of the track.
“It’s okay, but it’s not fair.”
Leclerc got off to a near-perfect start against Verstappen while teammate Sens dropped to fifth with Hamilton passing him before returning to lead him.
Danish Haas driver Kevin Magnussen attempted to overtake Hamilton at Turn 4 and there was contact between the two, which caused the Dane to retire from the track, with Hamilton suffering a puncture and falling to nineteenth.
“I would rather keep this engine guys. Sorry,” Hamilton said on the radio at the time, but Mercedes told him he had to keep going.
Leclerc and Verstappen gradually moved away from Russell III, and Pires put pressure on the Mercedes driver.
Trouble continued into turn four when Verstappen was the next victim to drop to fourth behind Pires, a relief for Leclerc.
As he took the lead, Leclerc was in for disaster on lap 27 when his car slowed down and he yelled “No, no, I lost power” and started crying before losing first to Russell.
Red Bull then asked Verstappen to change tires at the end of lap 28 and install “soft”.
After Pires got ahead of Russell with 35 laps to go, Verstappen rallied and reclaimed third with a thrilling pass from Bottas.
Pires complied with his team’s request to make way for Verstappen on lap 50.
“Thank you, my friend,” said the Dutchman, to which the Mexican replied, “It’s all right, but it’s not fair.”
Here is the F1 World Championship standings after the Bahrain Grand Prix, this season’s round which took place in Montmelo.
Driver Rating:
1. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) 110 points
2. Charles Leclerc (Monaco) 104
3. Sergio Perez (Mexico) 85
4. George Russell (Great Britain) 74
5. Carlos Saiens (Spain) 65
6. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) 46
7. Lando Norris (Great Britain) 39
8. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 38
9. Esteban Ocon (France) 30
10. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) 15
11. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 11
12. Yuki Tsunoda (Japan) 11
13. Pierre Gasly (France)
14. Fernando Alonso (Spain)
15. Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
16. Alexander Albon (Thailand)
17. Lance Stroll (Canada)
18. Zhou Guanyu (China)
Manufacturers order:
1. Ferrari 157 points
2. Red Bull 151
3. Mercedes 95
4. McLaren 46
5. Alfa Romeo 31
6. Alpine 26
7. Alvatore 16
8. Haas 15
9. Aston Martin 6
10. Williams 3
