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After Mercedes’ dominance of the season-opener in Australia, Bahrain was expected to be a formality for Ferrari, expectations being that they would pick up the first two spots and blow the championship race wide open.
But no one anticipated that with the same zeal that Ferrari was forecast to outshine Mercedes in the desert, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel’s new teammate, would totally obliterate the four-time world champion in performance.
Be it in qualifying or during the race, Leclerc proved that he is ready for the big stage. Having witnessed qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit, Leclerc had left little doubt in my mind that he could deliver on race day.
It was therefore sad that Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the race following an engine issue for Leclerc just 11 laps to the finish in a race that the Monegasque had utterly dominated.
“There’s something strange with the engine,” Leclerc said when he noticed a dip in power that ultimately cost him the race. Up till that point, Leclerc had had a brilliant weekend. Not only had he taken pole against expectations, he also set a New Lap Record of 1 minute, 27.866 seconds in Sakhir.
Starting pole with a combined nine championship titles right behind you is not an easy task, and so it proved for Leclerc who lost position to Vettel immediately after the start.
By Turn Four, Leclerc was down to third after being passed by the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. From then on, there was no looking back for the 21-year-old as he started hunting down his teammate.
In the second lap, Bottas locked up going into Turn One and it was the small window of opportunity that Leclerc needed. Hamilton got the better of his teammate on the second lap too by bravely keeping on the inside lane of the fast Turns Five, Six and Seven.
In the desert, it was Carlos Sainz’s turn in the McLaren to discover the futility of trying to overtake Red Bull’s Max Verstappen without significantly superior speed. The Spaniard’s brush with the Dutchman on the fourth lap precipitated a domino effect of events which eventually led to his retirement.
On the sixth lap, Leclerc took the lead by cleanly passing his teammate to the delight of fans who prefer racing to team orders. Of the top five cars, it was Verstappen who first dived into the pits, followed by Bottas, then Leclerc and Hamilton. Vettel also went in for fresh tyres but Mercedes was able to perfectly execute the undercut.
As Vettel chased Hamilton, Leclerc was seemingly in a league of his own. Vettel passed Hamilton on the 23rd lap. Come the second and final round of pit stops, Hamilton went in for a fresh set on the 34th lap, Ferrari bringing in Vettel a lap later.
The two men put on the same tyre compound and would shoot it out to the finish. On the 38th lap, Hamilton made a move to pass the German on the outside of Turn Four. Vettel kept to the inside lane with the two avoiding contact but in the process, lost the rear of his car and spun.
I saw Hamilton come down the sweeping Turns Five, Six and Seven and wondered what had happened to Vettel, only for him to rejoin the race seconds later with the chance for a podium position having evaporated.
Soon afterwards and along the DRS activation zone between Turns 10 and 11, Vettel sped past jostling for position with the ‘midfield’ and had his nose come off. Yet again, Vettel had made a mistake that would cost him dearly. Is pressure telling on the German this early in the season?
The Ferrari driver made a pit stop for a new nose and began recovering positions knowing too well that he had denied himself a podium finish. Towards the end of the race, there was drama as the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, who had been fighting for position, suddenly encountered mechanical failure.
From a comfortable lead, Leclerc’s issue with the engine saw Hamilton close an eight-second gap in three laps and easily pass the ‘limping’ Ferrari. Hamilton’s teammate, Bottas, did likewise just three laps to the end of the race.
Had matters remained that way, Verstappen was also on course to pass Leclerc, but the Monegasque had the Safety Car to thank for saving him from a further fall from grace.
For all his effort, Leclerc did stand on the podium and went away with the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.
It is telling that even after his teammate encountered a mechanical issue, four-time world champion, Vettel, still couldn’t capitalize to grab a podium position on a track where Ferrari were widely expected to finish one-two.
Hamilton consoled Leclerc at the finish. Before that, he had just been real with his team on radio admitting that the race was Leclerc’s, but for the mishap.
Benefitting from Renault’s double DNF, SportPesa Racing Point’s Sergio Perez finished in the points in 10th position while his teammate, Lance Stroll, was 14th, ahead of the Williams’ drivers.
