Charles Leclerc of Monaco won first place in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first round of the Formula One World Championship, at the Sakhir circuit on Sunday, ahead of his Spanish colleague Carlos Sainz in a double for Ferrari.
Leclerc, who won his third victory in the world championship, finished the race in a time of 1:37.33.584 hours, 5.598 seconds ahead of his Spanish colleague, to give the Italian park its first victory in the first category since 2019.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton reached third, 9.675 seconds behind Leclerc, despite a performance that did not rise to the required level due to the problems that the Mercedes team suffers, benefiting from the double withdrawal of the Red Bull drivers, defending champion Max Verstappen and his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez, 3 laps before the end ( out of 57).
Ferrari might not have dreamed of a better start under the umbrella of new technical regulations in order to forget two disastrous years without climbing the first step on the podium, especially since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari has missed the drivers’ title since 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, and since 2008 with the constructors.
Leclerc, who started from first place for the tenth time in his career, avenged his loss at the Sakhir circuit in particular for first place in 2019 due to a failure of his car’s engine while he was in the lead on his way to achieving his first victory.
The British newcomer to Mercedes, George Russell, finished fourth, while the return to his new-old team Haas following a two-year absence, Danish Kevin Magnussen and the new Alfa Romeo driver, former Hamilton teammate, Finn Valtteri Bottas and French Esteban Ocon (Albin), completed the fourth place. Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Alfatore) and Spain’s Fernando Alonso (Albin), while Djo Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) finished tenth in the first-ever race for a Chinese driver in the World Championship.
