Charles Leclerc's commentary before winning the first Formula 1 GP that scared all of Ferrari

This Sunday, the Ferrari team cut a two-and-a-half year winless drought of victories thanks to the triumph of Charles Leclerc on the first date held in Bahrain. Maranello's team took off a large pressure pack after two seasons in which they did not fight for the top spots and relaxation came with a touch of humor from the Monegasque rider, whose joke the team boss, Mattia Binotto, did not like.

Leclerc took pole position at the Sakhir International Autodrome and started ahead. He was the solid leader despite the attacks of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), with whom he had a spectacular fight over three laps. The Scuderia's work was perfect in every arrest and the 24-year-old scored his third victory in the Máxima, but typhosis celebrated the fact of having a competitive car again with the F1-75, the red monoposto in 2022.

It was on the last lap that Charles sent a message on the radio: “I feel that there is something wrong with the engine,” he told his engineer Xavi Marcos Padros. Exactly what he had said at Sakhir in 2019, when the malfunction of a valve in his SF90 about ten laps before the end prevented him from winning the race.

After a few seconds of silence and after the worried response of Padros, who barely managed to babble a “it's not possible” when comparing telemetry, Charles clarified: “In fact, I'm joking! ”. The laughter that dispelled all doubts: the F1-75 was perfect and endured the start of the championship well. The radio dialogue between the pilots and their engineers is heard by those responsible for the team and Binotto was aware of the dialogue. After the joke, Padros told Leclerc of the spin and abandonment suffered by Sergio “Checo” Pérez (Red Bull), and the Monegasque was able to keep the victory.

Leclerc then said: “I told them on the last lap that there was something wrong with the engine and I think someone was on the verge of a heart attack.” On the podium he met Binotto: “I'm already imagining the face you put on when I said something was wrong with my engine,” the driver told the team-manager, who told him: “Never make jokes like that again, Charles!” Leclerc climbed to the top step of the stage, the Italian anthem for Ferrari's victory sounded and everything remained an anecdote.

The party was complete for La Rosa as Spaniard Carlos Sainz was able to finish second and completed a historic 1-2. Since Australia 2004 that the Scuderia did not start that way, a season in which Michael Schumacher won his fifth and final title with the Italian team and the seventh in his personal harvest. In that race 18 years ago, the Kaiser won and was escorted by his teammate, Rubens Barrichello.

Ferrari showed a superlative performance of its engine in Bahrain and the proof was that its customer teams were also doing well. Haas was fifth with Denmark's Kevin Magnussen and Alfa Romeo finished sixth with Valtteri Bottas.

Formula 1 will continue this weekend with its longest calendar in history that has 23 dates and the course remains in the Middle East as it will be run in Saudi Arabia, on the Jeddah street circuit.

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