Max triumphs in Sepang in the Bahrain Grand Prix 301 days after his last success. Russell retires and Antonelli extends the lead to 84 points with seven races remaining
Electronics play a bad trick on George Russell and Kimi Antonelli continue their lead in the World Championship. The Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang was an odyssey for the drivers forced to start very late due to the rain and then to suffer continuous stops and starts. Everything and more, but in the end Max Verstappen wins which crowns his perfect weekend after pole position in the race. It is the first victory of the season for the Dutchman, he had to wait 301 days to triumph again in a grand prix but he demonstrated that his Red Bull is very fast at the moment. For Kimi Antonelli, second place is an exceptional result, especially due to the retirement of his teammate Russell, his first rival in the World Championship. The Briton gave up while the cars were following the safety car after the Albon accident. A long stop that mixed up the race, while the drivers were preparing to restart Russell’s Mercedes sadly shut down and the pilot stopped a few tens of meters after the pits. A twist at the end allowed Kimi to significantly increase his lead in the world rankings and in the few laps after the safety car came out the Italian driver was content with second place without taking risks. This time Kimi preferred to manage rather than attack, a choice of great maturity. Now the Italian driver has an 84 point advantage over his teammate.
Hamilton on the podium
The race was also beautiful Lewis Hamilton returning Ferrari to the podium, cfinishing third ahead of Charles Leclerc. The race for the Reds had started very badly for the wrong choice by the team to start both cars on dry tyres. Skidding at the start and immediate return to the pits for both Hamilton and Leclerc (who also had an accident). Then Lewis rebuilt his race with a great comeback, he led behind Hadjar and in the final laps after Russell’s exit he managed to overtake the Red Bull, thus gaining the lowest step of the podium ahead of teammate Leclerc, who also did well to overtake Hadjar at the end. Eighth place for an extraordinary Fernando Alonso who at 45 years old had a great race, finishing ahead of world champion Lando Norris. Formula 1 returns to the track next weekend Singaporethere are still seven grand prix to be contested after the confirmation of the president of the Domenicali Federation that the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will be held regularly
