The spectacular fight between Leclerc and Verstappen in the Bahrain Formula 1 GP

The spectacular fight between Leclerc and Verstappen that lasted three laps

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) gave great excitement at the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix with a spectacular fight that lasted three laps at the Sakhir International Autodrome. It was after the first arrests in which the Dutchman reduced the difference to Monegasque and there was a show of overcoming between them in a battle in which the Scuderia driver prevailed.

On lap 15, Verstappen entered to change his tires and put the new soft compound in order to gain grip and be faster. In the next round Leclerc made his stop and also put the soft compound. The Dutchman narrowed the gap and was less than a second away, allowing him to use the DRS and on turn 17 he overtook Leclerc in the first corner. But then between turns 3 and 4 Leclerc regained command. On the next lap, the duel was repeated: Max noticed Charles, who then returned to first place.

At the end of the 19th turn, Verstappen surpassed Leclerc again, but the world champion blocked and went through what the Ferrari rider once again took the privileged position. On lap 20 Max was no longer in the DRS zone (less than a second) and could not try another overpass.

Later, Leclerc managed to widen the gap that reached 3.6 seconds in the turn and allowed him to dominate the race with peace of mind until the safety car appeared on lap 46 to retire Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri whose Honda engine broke down. Faenza's monoposto began to catch fire in the rear and was controlled by the track assistants.

In the relaunch the differences disappeared, but Verstappen could not overcome Leclerc and had to defend himself against the other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz. At that point the world champion showed some failures in the hydraulic steering of his car and had to abandon with two laps left.

The guard position remained for Sainz who ended up behind his teammate, Leclerc, who captured a resounding victory in the opening of the season. While Lewis Hamilton inherited third place. Despite completing the podium, it was a difficult race for the Englishman who suffered the lack of grip on the track with his tires and was never in a position to fight for the win. In addition, the Mercedes engine - for now - is not at the level of that of Ferrari and Honda, which supplies Red Bull.

Since the beginning of the weekend in Bahrain, Ferrari showed that its powerplant was the strongest and in fact surprised to see the cars of the other two teams using the Maranello braces, Alfa Romeo and Haas, how they got into Q2 (second qualifying instance) and Q3 (last qualifying cut), in which Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas), won the sixth and seventh records.

Leclerc, who won pole positions, made a good start and was able to stay ahead despite Verstappen's attempt to overcome. In the first laps the Monegasque managed to get more than two seconds ahead of the Dutchman, who was able to get close after the first arrests when they fought for the lead.

Leclerc won his third victory in the Maxima following his triumphs in Belgium and Italy in 2019. In 2020 Ferrari had its second worst season in history and in 2021, although it showed its recovery, it could not return to victory either. This start excites typhosis since since 2018 that the Italian team did not start winning, when Sebastian Vettel won it. And since 2004 that Scuderia did not get a 1-2, in the season that Michael Schumacher won his seventh and final F1 title.

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