Bahrain Grand Prix: New rules bring famous old name in Ferrari

The new era of Formula 1 began in Bahrain on Saturday and it has a very different shape from the last one, at least for now.

Ferrari are back, and their extravagantly talented driver Charles Leclerc beat Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen to pole position in an exciting and close battle.

Only 0.129 seconds covered the first three cars as Carlos Sainz made it a Ferrari one-three on the grid, while Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have slipped from their pedestal and face a struggle to get back to their familiar position at the front.

Hamilton ended up 0.68 seconds off pole in fifth place on the grid. And it says a lot about the place Mercedes are in that team principal Toto Wolff said the team were «a little bit upbeat about where we have been able to consolidate ourselves».

Sunday's race should distil down to a straight fight between the Ferrari drivers and Verstappen, although the Dutchman's team-mate Sergio Perez is fourth on the grid and may have something to say about that.

Hamilton admitted: «Those guys ahead of us are on another level at the moment. We're not quick enough to win.»

In many ways, the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull was a relief. Verstappen and Red Bull had looked so strong on the final day of pre-season testing and through practice this weekend that there were fears they might have a car with which they could dominate the season, in the manner of 2011 or 2013.

Ferrari, though, had always looked strong, and come qualifying they proved it was no illusion.

For them, relief was one of the emotions mixed in with the delight. Ferrari had targeted the new regulations introduced this year as an opportunity to get back to the front after a number of difficult seasons.

In 2019, they were reasonably competitive, and