Bahrain GP: Max Verstappen starts the F1 season with a commanding win in Bahrain
Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen opened his bid for a fourth successive title in dominant style with an unchallenged cruise to a Red Bull one-two victory in Saturday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Dutchman had a perfect day, leading from pole and earning a bonus point for fastest lap on his way to finishing 22.4 seconds ahead of Mexican teammate Sergio Perez.
Carlos Sainz, who will make way for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari next year, finished third ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen's victory under the Sakhir floodlights was his 55th of his career and his second in Bahrain.
It gave him an eight-point lead over Perez in the overall standings and extended his championship leading streak to 40 races, dating back to May 2022.
"Unbelievable, I think today went even better than expected," said Verstappen.
"It's special to have these kind of days, where it all feels perfect and you feel at one with the car."
Verstappen's Saturday evening cruise dashed hopes for a competitive start to the season after Red Bull won all but one race last year.
The win was Red Bull's 114th since their debut in Formula One 20 years ago, tying the team with former champions Williams for fourth place in the all-time list.
A close-run qualifying and three different teams taking turns at the top in three practice sessions raised the possibility of a multi-team battle.
Verstappen, who won 19 of 22 races last year, simply picked up where he left off on Saturday, and he now has a record 24 races to complete this season.
"A really, really professional drive, Max," Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told him over the radio.
"One-two finish, fastest lap, pole position, clean sweep," added his embattled team boss Christian Horner, who was cleared of misconduct earlier this week following an investigation into allegations made by a female employee.
George Russell placed fifth for Mercedes.
The Briton had started third and raced as high as second, but he ran wide and lost fourth to Leclerc in the final stages, having already fallen behind Perez and Sainz.
Leclerc himself had a difficult race, complaining about braking issues and locking up several times.
Lando Norris finished sixth for McLaren, ahead of Hamilton.
The 39-year-old Briton, who started ninth, had hoped that his Mercedes' long run pace would propel him into contention, but he was left on the back foot after his seat broke.
Australian Oscar Piastri finished eighth in the other McLaren, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll from Aston Martin rounded out the top 10.
Stroll, the son of Canadian team owner Lawrence, had to make up ground after Nico Hulkenberg's Haas sent him spinning at the first corner.
The contact damaged the German's front wing, and dashed his chances of turning his top-10 start into a strong points finish.
All 20 cars finished the race without retiring.
SportsLigue