It was an encouraging first sign that 2022’s new regulations had achieved their goal of making it easier for cars to fight on-track, and gave cause for optimism similar duels will play out over the 22 races to follow.Įventually, Verstappen snatched a brake at turn one after accepting another invitation to pass Leclerc, and the Ferrari driver used his much better exit from the corner to first pull clear of DRS, then away from the Red Bull entirely. “I was trying to brake early into turn one just to be behind him at the DRS detection and twice it worked out, so I took back my first position and just incredibly happy that we made it work.”įor three laps, the pair traded places in an exhilarating exhibition of racing – Leclerc ultimately retaining his hard-fought lead. Verstappen passed the Ferrari, but not for long“I was trying to be as clever as possible using the DRS as much as possible,” he later explained. With Verstappen sitting in DRS range as they rounded the final corner, Leclerc made the smart decision to blend out of the throttle on the straight and allow the Red Bull to pass him, so he could exploit the second DRS zone to retake the lead. Remarkably, even with the relatively easy out-lap, Verstappen’s fresh rubber allowed him to gain three full seconds over the Ferrari on a single lap and was close enough to apply intense pressure to Leclerc as soon as he merged back onto the circuit. “Do not hit these tyres hard, Max,” Verstappen’s race director Gianpiero Lambiase instructed his driver. Ferrari immediately responded, bringing Sainz from third and calling in leader Leclerc at the end of his next lap. “Engine braking is doing funny things mid-corner,” he radioed.ĭespite the Red Bull’s handling being less than ideal, Verstappen managed to maintain the gap to around 3.5s before Red Bull opted to pit him for a second set of softs at the end of lap 14. But it didn’t take long for the champion to report the first of a myriad of car problems that would ultimately render his afternoon fruitless. Verstappen kept in touch with Leclerc out front as the pair gently pulled away from Sainz in third. Within a handful of laps the Red Bull driver caught and passed Hamilton, whose Mercedes is not the force it was last year, to reclaim his original fourth position. Magnussen, parachuted into the Haas only 11 days prior, relinquished fifth place to Perez. Luckily, he was able to continue after dropping to the rear, just as Mick Schumacher was fortunate to continue as Esteban Ocon pitched the Haas into a perfect pirouette at turn six, earning himself a five-second penalty. Leclerc converted pole into the early leadBreaking ground as China’s first ever F1 race driver, Zhou Guanyu almost saw his grand prix debut end at the very first corner when his Alfa Romeo fell into anti-stall. Sergio Perez surrendered two positions to first Lewis Hamilton, then Kevin Magnussen’s Haas. When the five red lights went out to signal the start of the most keenly anticipated world championship in recent memory, Leclerc aced his first mission of the evening by beating the Red Bull driver on the run to the first corner as team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr held third. “The team is stronger than the past.”Īnd when Charles Leclerc secured the first pole position of Formula 1’s new era around the Bahrain International Circuit, it appeared Ferrari were backing Binotto’s words up with actions.Īll they had to do on Sunday was hold off world champion Max Verstappen. “If I look at the 2022 car and the 2022 power units, believe me, there is a lot of innovation in it,” he boldly claimed in December, Binotto said. In the midst of their weakest season for forty years in 2020, team principal Mattia Binotto turned his team’s focus to the wealth of opportunity offered by the major rules changes for the 2022 season to try and bring his team back to where he felt they belonged.
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