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Sakhir (AP) - The start of the new Formula 1 season has met the expectations of many, but not all.
A German four-time world champion cannot get out of the cycle of frustration even when restarting his career in the new team.
A German debutante, on the other hand, is happy because he has crossed the finish line.
The world championship fight at the very front could finally turn into a real duel.
“That's great,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff: “There is no better victory than someone who is hard-fought and no better championship than the one that goes to the end and there is a real exchange of blows that you take must and can hand out. "
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THE LUCKY ONE IN 16TH PLACE: So five percent were missing to be completely happy.
But the fact that Mick Schumacher ended this race with a crash of his teammate Nikita Masepin right after the start and a subsequent safety car phase without any major blunders - apart from a spin in the windy desert of Sakhir - was magic 22-year-olds put a satisfied smile on their faces.
His first Grand Prix weekend showed that he had his stable rivals under control and was always ahead of him.
"Mick did a very good job," praised his team boss Günther Steiner after the race.
But it also became clear that Mick Schumacher somehow has a lonely year of apprenticeship ahead of him: With the rivals in front of him it is too far with the too weak Haas, and nothing more comes after Haas.
THE UNLUCKY ONE FROM PLACE 15: There are sentences like this that reminded some of the statements by Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari: "We have learned a lot."
Or this one: "We know where we can improve."
And this: "There is a lot that we can improve."
Vettel said it after his debut race in the Aston Martin.
A race in which he was too slow and also received a penalty after a rear-end collision.
A race after a Friday and a Saturday with enough disillusionment like 18th place in the qualification.
The Aston Martin, as beautiful as Vettel found it at the presentation, is not yet good enough.
And Vettel is not flawless even now.
It's just the beginning, but it went pretty wrong.
INDUSTRY LEADER WITH ASSISTANCE: The powerful cheers from Toto Wolff as superstar Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line said a lot.
Relief that it worked again.
Proud that Mercedes fended off Red Bull's first really serious attack.
And joy that his team never tires of victory.
"If someone had told me on Saturday that it would end like this, I would probably not have believed it," said Wolff, "but we have recovered from the tests."
The strategy was perfect, or as Wolff put it: "The racing god was on our side."
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CHALLENGER WITH AN ADVANTAGE: He's the one who is most likely to prevent Hamilton's eighth triumph: Max Verstappen.
The 23-year-old Dutchman set the fastest time in all three practice sessions in Bahrain, he was the fastest in qualifying with a lead of around four tenths of a second, and despite Mercedes' tactical finesse, he almost won the race.
"A great race, hard to lose," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, "but that was only the first of 23."
DEBUTANT WITH POINTS AND POTENTIAL: Yuki Tsunado could actually have been really happy.
Ninth place thanks to a great maneuver on the last lap, two points secured.
But no.
The 20-year-old Japanese was only "50 percent" happy.
He did not criticize the car, nor the opponents, the 1.60 meter tall Tsunoda was hard on himself.
"I lost a lot of points on the first lap," said the Alpha Tauri driver after falling from 15th position on the grid to 15th position: "That was my big mistake."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210328-99-06714 / 2
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