The season premiere in Formula 1 offered a really thrilling duel, at least for a start.
The reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took turns driving around each other during the start of the Bahrain GP and the entertainment value was thus at its peak.
After a while, however, Leclerc managed to snatch a gap and the race looked decided.
But with ten laps left to go, Pierre Gasly's car broke down and started to burn.
The safety car came out and suddenly Leclerc's lead was gone.
However, the last seven laps were not as exciting as one might have hoped.
The verstappen was admittedly just behind Leclerc but was never close to getting past.
Instead, he had problems with his car and in connection with it was run over by both Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez before he chose to break with two laps left.
And say the accident that comes alone, shortly afterwards Perez got a cord and was forced to retire.
"Has not been easy"
The victory was Ferrari's first since September 8, 2019 when Leclerc won at Monza.
- I'm so happy, the last two years have been incredibly difficult for the team, but this year started in the absolute best way: pole position, double victory and the fastest lap, we can not wish for anything more, says Leclerc and continues to thank Ferrari fans.
- Thank you to everyone who has continued to support us for the last two years, it has not been easy but it feels fantastic to be back.
Behind Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to pick up a third and a fourth prize for Mercedes.
An achievement considering how much there has been talk ahead of the season about what problems they have with their car.
In the shadows, Kevin Magnussen did really well.
The 29-year-old Danish, who got another chance in the Haas stable when Russian Nikita Mazepin was forced out due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, managed to finish in fifth place and pick up long-awaited points for Haas who spent the entire last season without take one more stick.