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The 2021 Formula 1 season started off in sensational style in Bahrain with a two-team fight for victory through Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. There were also a lot of other bright lights, but it didn’t go very well for everyone. We have selected six winners and six losers from Sunday’s race…
Winner: Lewis Hamilton
It was a race victory that Lewis Hamilton really had to fight for, which is why he was in a contagious mood after the race. The seven-time world champion knew his Mercedes team were on their backs in Bahrain, and he was far from happy after losing to Max Verstappen in qualifying.
But in the race his team put the right strategy in place – and he did everything he needed to execute it perfectly, including a masterclass in defensive driving that ultimately resulted in his 75th Grand Prix victory for Mercedes. , in addition to winning all-time laps led. record of the great Michael Schumacher.
READ MORE: Hamilton wins epic season opener in just 0.7 seconds after thrilling battle with Verstappen in Bahrain
Remarkably, this was Hamilton’s first time winning the opener of the year since 2015 – and preparing well for his stall for a record-breaking eighth world title. Work done for the first race.
Loser: Sebastian Vettel
There was very little for Sebastian Vettel to be happy with his first weekend of racing with Aston Martin, with the German setting an ominous tone when he was kicked out of qualifying in Q1 (he was only knocked out of Q1 only once in 2020 despite Ferrari falling off the beat).
He was then forced to try and set up a one-stop-shop strategy, with the German struggling with worn tires before hitting Esteban Ocon’s back after the Frenchman passed him.
READ MORE: Vettel says he ‘couldn’t avoid’ Ocon as he apologizes for punching Frenchman
He crossed the 15th line, his worst flag result since the 2019 British Grand Prix and the sixth worst (by the same metric) of his racing career, which began in 2007.
Bahrain Grand Prix 2021: Vettel crashes behind Ocon
Winner: McLaren
McLaren confirmed their status as the third-best pre-season team, with an impressive performance that yielded fourth for Lando Norris and seventh for new boy Daniel Ricciardo to place them third in the Constructors’ Championship, 10 points behind Red Bull.
Norris’ fourth place matched the result he had achieved in the same race last year and was only one place behind the one he won in the season opener in Austria in 2020 .
Encouragingly for McLaren, they had the edge over Ferrari in pure performance and – more importantly, appear to have narrowed the gap with Mercedes and Red Bull.
READ MORE: Norris had ‘flashbacks’ to first podium as he charged in P4 in Bahrain
Loser: Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas may have completed the fastest lap of the race, but a poor pit stop – which lasted 10.9 seconds – cost him a possible second place as he ultimately finished third.
The Finn showed flashes of pace in the Grand Prix, sometimes turning faster than his teammate Hamilton on hard tires, but the time lost on the pit stop ruled him out.
It was also the first time he had failed to win the season opener since 2018.
READ MORE: ‘We were more passive than aggressive’ – Bottas unhappy with Mercedes’ strategic call to Bahrain
Winner: Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda made a name for himself in the Bahrain paddock, the Japanese rider – who only has two years of international single-seater experience – completing a sensational race to finish ninth.
The 20-year-old becomes the 65th driver to score points on his debut – and the first since Stoffel Vandoorne on the same track in 2016.
It was also the first score for a Japanese rider since Kamui Kobayashi – who is our guest on this week’s edition of Beyond The Grid, uploaded on Wednesday – finished ninth at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
WATCH: Rookie Tsunoda snatches P9 off on debut with last-lap assist from Stroll
Losers: Max Verstappen and Red Bull
When Max Verstappen won pole for Red Bull on Saturday, securing back-to-back poles for the first time in his career, there was a real feeling they could convert it to a win on Sunday.
And they came so close, to miss less than a second.
This means Verstappen has finished second in the last two Bahraini Grands Prix, but his Red Bull team have yet to win at the venue since it became a night race in 2014.
READ MORE: ‘This is what it is’ – Verstappen’s surrender philosophy leads Hamilton after off-piste stint
Winners: Max Verstappen and Red Bull
But while Verstappen and Red Bull were the losers on the one hand, they can take a lot of heart from their performance this week, showing enough pure performance throughout qualifying and the race to suggest they are in a position to fight. Mercedes for the championship.
A dazzling recovery from Sergio Perez, who started from the pit lane after a mechanical problem in the formation lap, placed him fifth – securing a cumulative points that limited Mercedes’ deficit to just 13 points.
And Verstappen’s qualifying performance was significant, with the Dutchman showing that Red Bull had made gains on a lap pace by denying Mercedes pole in the opening race for the first time in the hybrid era.
READ MORE: ‘I thought it was it’ – Perez shocked to recover in P5 after car breakdown on formation lap
Loser: Nikita Mazepin
Nikita Mazepin’s Formula 1 debut lasted just a few hundred yards, as the Russian lost control of his Haas on cold tires at Turn 2 and sped through the gravel in the barriers.
The damage was too much to continue, but he escaped unscathed and apologized to the team for his mistake. It was a disappointing end to an unremarkable first time in the car, with Mazepin missing the pace of teammate Mick Schumacher – who finished in his debut as his father Michael retired in the first lap of his – throughout the race. weekend.
Bahrain Grand Prix 2021: Mazepin spins and crashes in the first round
Winners: Honda
Honda haven’t had the best times since returning to F1 with McLaren in 2015, but they’ve only gotten better since joining the Red Bull family. And while they may be leaving at the end of the year, that didn’t stop them from throwing everything in their last campaign.
Not only did they advance their engine design by a year, but they changed it in six months. It has since been reliable and has shown an impressive performance boost, to the point that many in the paddock feel tied – if not ahead – of Mercedes.
This performance was evident in Bahrain, as their power unit played a key role – according to Verstappen – in Red Bull’s pole position, while that extra grunt on a performance-sensitive circuit was crucial for the Dutchman in the fight for the victory of the 56. turns.
READ MORE: How Mercedes’ aggressive tactics helped them beat Red Bull in Bahrain – despite slower car
Loser: the track limits ambiguity
Formula 1 had its most exciting opening race of the season in years, but some of the sparkle was taken away thanks to a discussion of the limits of the track at Turn 4.
It’s a gray area, with the rules saying that the track limits would not be monitored there with regards to setting a lap time, but would be be supervised, in accordance with sporting regulations, so as not to obtain a lasting advantage overall.
It is clear that the teams and the drivers are confused, as are the fans at home. It is certainly not an easy task for the FIA to control or control, and we can expect more discussions on this in the future.
READ MORE: ‘We need a consistent situation’ – Horner frustrated with ‘gray area’ of track limits in Bahrain GP
Winners: Maranello
Last year has been miserable for the men and women of Maranello as their beloved Ferrari team suffered their worst Constructors’ Championship result in 40 years with a sixth place finish. However, an all-new powertrain, paired with a heavily revised aerodynamics package aimed at reducing drag, appears to have made the difference, with the red cars becoming fourth best at pace.
Leclerc qualified a brilliant fourth, equaling his best of last season, then crossed the sixth line for his best result since the Turkish Grand Prix. After a cautious start, Carlos Sainz gained momentum to finish eighth, as Ferrari finished with both cars in points for just the sixth time since the start of 2020.
READ MORE: Sainz, Leclerc are already anxiously awaiting Imola after Ferrari score double in Bahrain
Losers: Aston Martin
Aston Martin was the big unknown after pre-season testing – but the reality was not a good read in Bahrain as they struggled both on one lap and on the pace of the long races.
We’ve discussed Vettel’s tough weekend before, but while teammate Lance Stroll fared slightly better – in Q3 – he lacked pace in the race and was assaulted by Tsunoda on the final lap to finish the race. 10th race with a lonely point.
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