In a new era of F1 with ground effect cars, on paper Ferrari dominated the Bahrain race weekend as Leclerc took pole position, the race win in a team 1-2 and the fastest lap, but in truth its battle with Red Bull and Max Verstappen made it a much more even contest.
But Red Bull ended the first round with zero points as both Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez retired late on due to a suspected fuel pump problem.
PLUS: The unseen Verstappen problem that ensured Leclerc’s Bahrain GP win
Red Bull’s double DNF allowed Mercedes to produce a strong damage limitation effort, with Lewis Hamilton completing the podium and new team-mate George Russell taking fourth place, as the reigning F1 world constructors’ champions struggled with porpoising and extracting maximum performance from the W13.
There were also standout performances from Kevin Magnussen on his return to Haas and Valtteri Bottas on his Alfa Romeo debut, while team-mate Guanyu Zhou scored a point on his F1 debut.
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