Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) completes the podium thanks to the retirement of Red Bull Dutchman Max Verstappen, reigning champion, and Mexican Sergio Pérez due to breakdowns in the last three laps!

For the Scuderia, which was banking on changing the technical regulations in 2022 to make up for two years without a win (since Singapore 2019), the contract is fulfilled and the season looks promising.

As a reminder, Ferrari has not been crowned since 2007 among drivers with the Finn Kimi Räikkönen and since 2008 among manufacturers.

On a personal level, for Leclerc, also author of the pole position and the fastest lap in the race, this success has a taste of redemption: in 2019, he was driving towards his first victory in F1 in Bahrain before being betrayed by his engine. .

Mercedes' new British rookie George Russell finished just off the podium.

After a season far from the premier category of motorsport, the Dane Kevin Magnussen, recalled at the last minute last week to replace the Russian Nikita Mazepin, ousted following the invasion of Ukraine, offers Haas, good last last year, a very good 5th place.

The Finn Valtteri Bottas, moved from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo, is 6th, the French Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 7th, the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 8th, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 9th and the Chinese beginner Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), 10th and in the points for his first GP.

Bahrain Grand Prix results and driver and manufacturer standings Kenan AUGEARD AFP

Breakthrough Season

Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), he was forced to retire, his car catching fire.

At Aston Martin, the German Nico Hülkenberg replaced at short notice his compatriot Sebastian Vettel, positive for Covid-19.

He finished 17th.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo made his return to McLaren after missing winter testing last week for the same reason.

The 2022 season is presented as revolutionary, with completely different single-seaters, whose aerodynamic support is no longer created by very elaborate fins and numerous appendages on the chassis but by the ground effect, forming a suction cup under the car.

This regulatory change is supposed to narrow the gaps between the teams and allow the single-seaters to follow each other and therefore to overtake each other less difficult in the race.

The championship continues next week with the second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, three and a half months after the first, won by Hamilton ahead of Verstappen in early December 2021.

Monegasque Charles Leclerc's Ferrari takes the best start ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) on the Bahraini circuit of Sakhir, March 20, 2022 Giuseppe CACACE AFP

Off track, F1 reacted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by encouraging donations to Unicef ​​on its social media as well as on the GP starting grid.

Gasly or Hülkenberg wore Ukrainian flags on their helmets.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA), for its part, announced a donation to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as the creation of an "intervention group" responsible for "coordinating (its) humanitarian response".

© 2022 AFP