Team by team analysis of Bahrain Grand Prix

MANAMA : Team-by-team analysis of Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix, listed in championship order:

RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 2)

Verstappen won a season-opener for the first time and added Bahrain to his list of victories in a dream start to his bid for a third successive title. He started on pole for the 21st time in his career, with Perez alongside, and cruised to a dominant 36th career win. Perez lost out to Leclerc at the start but recovered the position later.

ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 3, Lance Stroll 6)

Alonso was voted Driver of the Day. He started fifth for his first race with Aston Martin following his move from Alpine, passed Hamilton and went wheel-to-wheel with Sainz for the final podium spot. Stroll started eighth, two weeks after he broke both wrists and a toe in a cycling accident. The Canadian clipped the back of Alonso's car at turn four on the opening lap, with the Spaniard dropping to seventh but fighting back.

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 5, George Russell 7)

Russell started sixth and Hamilton seventh, with the latter gaining two places at the start. Both ran a soft/hard/hard tyre strategy. A slow first pitstop dropped Russell to eighth but he moved back up when Leclerc retired.

FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 4, Charles Leclerc retired)

Leclerc and Sainz started on the second row, with the Monegasque using a fresh set of soft tyres saved from qualifying to take second from Perez into the first corner. Leclerc then pulled over with a loss of power 17 laps from the end. Sainz inherited third but was passed by Alonso on fresher tyres.

ALFA ROMEO (Valtteri Bottas 8, Guanyu Zhou 16)

Bottas made a great start from 12th on the grid and managed to stay ahead of Gasly at the finish. Zhou set