Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix
Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Red Bull's Max Verstappen actually took the lead from Hamilton with four laps to go but handed the position back because he had overtaken by running off the track. Verstappen finished second ahead of Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes took two podium finishes. It was a fantastic race for the fans to savor. Here's more.
Verstappen forced to give back the lead to Hamilton
Verstappen had to concede his lead after an order from race control. He complained over the radio after his team ordered him to hand the lead back as they had no choice. Notably, the drivers had been referred by the race director before the race to a rule that says they cannot not leave the track and gain a lasting advantage.
What a difficult race that was, says Hamilton
"Wow. What a difficult race that was. Stopping early we knew would be difficult but we had to cover Max, they have had an amazing performance all weekend. Max was all over me at the end and I was just about able to hold him off. That was one of the hardest races I've had for a while," said Hamilton.
Steady Bottas finishes third in Bahrain GP
Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas suffered a slow second pit stop when a front tyre proved difficult to remove. This saw Red Bull to delay Verstappen's stop to give him a much bigger grip advantage over Hamilton for the end of the race. Bottas looked steady throughout the race while never looking likely to trouble the top two.
Ferrari amongst the points, Vettel finishes 15th
McLaren's Lando Norris finished fourth above Red Bull's Sergio Perez. Ferrari had both their drivers in the top 10. Charles Leclerc finished sixth, whereas, Carlos Sainz took eighth place. Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel finished 15th as Haas' Mick Schumacher ended 16th.
