Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto puts pressure on Max Verstappen and Red Bull ahead of Saudi GP

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has put the onus on Red Bull to perform in Saudi Arabia by insisting they are still "favourites" for the title despite the Scuderia's dream start in Bahrain. After becoming embroiled in a thrilling duel with world champion Max Verstappen, during which the lead changed hands several times, it was Charles Leclerc who took the chequered flag ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc, who had started the race on pole, clearly enjoyed his third F1 win, even taking the time to play a prank on his engineers on the final lap and pretend he had a problem with his car. There was no sign of laughter in the Red Bull garage though, after disaster struck for both Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez late on.

The Dutchman was set to take second before having to retire with a fuel pump issue, allowing Sainz to come through, whilst Perez then missed out on third place after also suffering issues with his car. The Mexican's misfortune meant an unlikely podium place for Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc's win came as little surprise given the Monegasque driver's displays in pre-season testing, and Ferrari appear the team to beat again ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this weekend. However, soon after his dream start to the season in Bahrain, team principal Binotto dismissed that notion.

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"At first I think the others [Red Bull] are very very strong and proved to be strong in the qualification, it was really a matter of pace," Binotto was quoted as saying by crash.net. "I think today they could have been stronger, but maybe there are some reliability issues that are not perfect on their car from what we