Hamilton Storms To Season Opening Win In Bahrain

Calum Gill 18:39 28/03/2021

Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling opening race in the 2021 season, edging out Max Verstappen in a tense strategic battle.

The Briton crossed the line less than a second ahead of Dutchman Verstappen in a clash on the dunes that was won by way of strategy from Mercedes.

Verstappen looked to have won the race with 3 laps to go when he went around the outside of Hamilton at turn 4. However, the Red Bull driver ran wide on the exit, and was told by race control to hand the position back to Hamilton. Verstappen could not quite catch up, and so the newly knighted Hamilton took the chequered flag.

Earlier on, Nikita Mazepin's first Formula 1 race lasted the best part of 20 seconds, when he crashed all on his own at turn three. The Russian looked to have got on the throttle to agressively when on the kerb, and subsequently hit the wall. There was also trouble for teammate Mick Schumacher when he spun on the safety car restart, but he was OK to continue, bringing it home in 16th place. Pierre Gasly's race was also ruined on the restart when he lost his front wing following contact with the rear left wheel on the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.

-Full weekend results 

Not to be for Verstappen.

It was a brutal end to the race for Verstappen, who had taken a dominant pole position and had looked to have pulled off a great comeback drive for victory. But both men drove brilliantly, as Mercedes and Red Bull fought a strategic battle for superiority in one of the most gripping races for some time. 

It was a remarkable climax to a tense and thrilling strategic battle that bodes well for an epic season between the two men. Verstappen complained over the radio about being ordered by his team to hand the lead back, but was told they had no choice.

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, and that officials can give them the "opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage gained by leaving the track". 

At the start, Verstappen had managed to stay out of trouble, but Hamilton moved in front when Mercedes stopped him earlier to go for the undercut. It subsequently became clear that Hamilton was soon lapping over a second quicker than Verstappen, and when the Dutchman pitted, Hamilton gained track position, which he maintained throughout the second round of pit stops. 

Red Bull decided to run Verstappen 11 laps longer to give him a tyre advantage at the end of the race, and he stopped with 18 laps to go. Hamilton had to measure his pace to hold Verstappen for as long as possible while also keeping his tyres in decent shape for the inevitable battle in the closing laps.

Verstappen was on Hamilton's tail with five laps to go, and passed him a lap later around the outside at Turn Four. It looked to be a superb move to clinch what would have been a deserving victory and an emphasis that Red Bull had the fastest car this weekend.

But a flick of oversteer as he went around Hamilton took him wide, and he broke the rule that said drivers had to stay the right side of the exit kerb on the outside of the corner. 

The Rest

Lando Norris drove an exceptional race to win the fight for best of the rest in his McLaren. The Briton set the stage for his result with a combative opening part of the race, in which he fought past team-mate Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap and then, after an early safety car to recover the crashed Haas of Nikita Mazepin, passed Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri and Charles Leclerc's Ferrari to take the place he would not lose for the rest of the race. Leclerc finished 6th and Ricciardo 7th.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez had to start from the pit lane after his engine cut out on the formation lap, but climbed back up the field in trademark style to take fifth place.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was eighth, Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda scored points on his debut in ninth for Alpha Tauri and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin rounded out the top 10. Stroll's team-mate Sebastian Vettel had a difficult day, and was penalised 10 seconds for ramming into the back of Esteban Ocon's Alpine after being overtaken on the approach to Turn One.

Gasly and Nicholas Latifi retired late on as well as Fernando Alonso who retired his Alpine after a brake failure caused by debris in his brake ducts, as well as also having problems with his engine.

2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Full Race Results