F1 latest news LIVE: Mercedes to ‘take a chainsaw’ to W13 and Lewis Hamilton rules out Saudi GP win

LIVE – Updated at 13:04

As the dust settles after Charles Leclerc won a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix, attention turns to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend with many teams frantically looking for adjustments.

World champion Max Verstappen will be eager for Red Bull to correct the reliability issues that plagued himself and Sergio Perez in Bahrain, leading to the pair suffering DNF.

“I did a bit of a joke on the radio on the last lap, saying there was something strange with the engine,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “The engineers I’m pretty sure didn’t like that, but it was fun.” While teammate Carlos Sainz finished second to ignite a compelling title race with Mercedes also wary of their car’s ability to compete this year despite the third and fourth finishes from Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, with Toto Wolff conceding they may “take a chainsaw” to the W13 in pursuit of less drag.

Elsewhere Haas have been revelling following an impressive day as returning F1 driver Kevin Magnussen collected a fifth-placed finish, the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas came in sixth and his teammate Guanyu Zhou finished 10th to collect a first world championship point on his F1 debut.

Follow all the latest news and reaction from the Bahrain Grand Prix below, as the F1 world looks ahead to the next race in Saudi Arabia.

Formula One is back and after a thrilling opening weekend in Bahrain we head to Saudi Arabia for the second race of the 2022 season.

Ferrari are back on top of the standings and are the early team to beat after Charles Leclerc won the Italians their first race since 2019 and Carlos Sainz completed a sensational one-two.

Red Bull suffered a “brutal” double DNF as both defending champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez