Bahrain GP: Charles Leclerc wins F1 season opener ahead of Carlos Sainz as Max Verstappen suffers late retirement

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc rode through an epic duel with Max Verstappen and a late Safety Car period to take victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, underlining his early-season title credentials in the process, whilst Red Bull suffered a double retirement.

Starting from pole, Leclerc sped away and held the lead from Verstappen up to the first set of pit-stops, which is where our first battle, of potentially many this year, between the Monegasque and the Dutchman took place.

On three consecutive laps, Verstappen overtook Leclerc to take the lead of the Grand Prix and on each occasion the Ferrari man fought back to reclaim P1 moments later.

Indeed, this appeared to be Verstappen’s best chance of claiming victory and so it would prove, with Leclerc able to build a gap in the following laps – one that he would maintain after the second set of stops.

In a bid to do something different, Red Bull decided to pit both Verstappen and Sergio Perez once more but soon after, the Dutchman reported power steering issues, and his problems were only going to get a lot worse.

A Safety Car period caused by Pierre Gasly’s fire left Leclerc needing to once again build his lead but he had no issues doing just that, with Verstappen instead beginning to suffer with power issues.

Indeed, with a handful of laps to go the Dutchman began crawling to the pitlane, with Carlos Sainz taking P2 to seal a Ferrari one-two.

Red Bull’s woes, though, were only beginning with Sergio Perez, promoted to third thanks to his team-mate’s issues, also began reporting a lack of power.

And, with just two laps to go, Red Bull’s night was topped off with Perez’s engine cutting out and forcing him out of the race, sealing a podium spot for Lewis