By: Rain at Sepang delayed the start of the race, which got under way at 10:35 Italian time. Here is what happened in a race where drama truly took centre stage.
An extraordinary start
When the lights went out, Antonelli and Russell swept past Verstappen, Hamilton and Leclerc to take first and second place. The Dutchman dropped to third, but it was the Ferrari pair who lost ground. Unlike their direct rivals, both Ferrari drivers had opted for softs rather than intermediates and dramatically fell back through the field. Charles Leclerc even had to change his front wing after several contacts, pitting on lap 4/55 for tyres and a new wing. On track, meanwhile, Verstappen found a balance with his RB22, closing in on Russell and passing him on lap 6/55. The top 10 was: ANT-VER-RUS-LAW-HAD-SAI-OCO-LIN-ALB-PIA. A highly unusual order.
Bottas reignites the race - Safety Car deployed!
On lap 10/55, as Max Verstappen attempted to attack Antonelli, the Safety Car was deployed after Valtteri Bottas stopped in the gravel at Turn 13. The drivers took advantage to pit for slick tyres. Under the Safety Car, the top 10 was: ANT-VER-RUS-HAD-LAW-OCO-LIN-SAI-BOR-PIA. The Mercedes pair opted for mediums, while both Red Bulls and Ferraris chose softs; Lawson, Lindblad, Piastri and Norris were surprising in selecting hards.
At the restart, Antonelli came under attack from both Verstappen and Russell, dropping to third; Verstappen therefore returned to the lead. Hamilton climbed to 11th, while Leclerc was 14th. There were problems for Sainz, who dramatically dropped from sixth to 18th.
Between Hammer and SuperMax time
Lewis Hamilton began his charge towards the front, quickly reaching fifth behind Hadjar, who was running alone in fourth. Charles Leclerc also tried to recover ground, but the pace of the #44 was clearly stronger. Up front, Verstappen held a 5.5-second advantage over Antonelli.
That brought the race to lap 27/55, when George Russell was warned that rain could arrive in around 10 minutes, while Verstappen extended his advantage over Antonelli to 8.5 seconds. The top 10 at that point was: VER-ANT-RUS-HAD-HAM-LAW-PIA-LEC-OCO-NOR. Leclerc was called into the pits shortly afterwards for another set of softs, dropping to 12th.
Pit-stop time amid considerable controversy
Hadjar and Lewis were called into the pits on lap 32/55, rejoining in sixth and seventh respectively. The Briton switched from softs to mediums, and his performance was excellent at that stage despite the #44's scepticism. Over the following laps, George Russell, Antonelli and Verstappen all made their stops, each taking soft tyres. Their positions remained unchanged, with the #3 returning to the track as race leader.
Further back, the races of Lawson and Lindblad, running seventh and 10th respectively, were striking, as was Fernando Alonso's, with the Spaniard close to the points in 11th. In this second phase of the race, McLaren showed good pace on hard tyres, but both Piastri and Norris remained well away from the positions that mattered, running fifth and sixth respectively.
The drama keeps coming - Albon stops, and the final sprint begins!
As Lewis Hamilton tried to attack Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon stopped at Turn 4 with engine problems. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed and the top 10, at different times, pitted for their final stops. Shortly afterwards, the VSC became a Safety Car. On lap 47/55, the top 10 was: VER-ANT-RUS-HAD-HAM-LEC-PIA-NOR-LAW-ALO. Looking at the compounds selected, the top 10 were all on softs, with the exception of Piastri on mediums.
While waiting for the restart, the drama continued, with George Russell forced to stop with gearbox problems. The #63 car was also removed during the Safety Car period. Racing resumed on lap 52/55, with Verstappen retaining the lead, although Antonelli was not far behind. Lewis Hamilton managed to pass Hadjar and move into the podium places; Leclerc also took advantage, climbing to fourth.
At the chequered flag, there was no doubt: Max Verstappen won the Bahrain GP in a truly incredible race, with the Dutchman clearly the best driver on the day. Antonelli was second, moving ever closer to the world championship; Lewis Hamilton also finished on the podium, after an incredible recovery drive that at least enabled him to return to the leading positions. It was also an excellent race from Alonso, who finished eighth. Below is the full classification.
Cover photo by Peter Kiss / WHYOUT images
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