The first Grand Prix of the 2022 Formula 1 season happened last night at 6.00 pm local time in Bahrain and the buildup to the race has obviously been Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton but from this year Ferrari has also become a strong contender since the rules have changed from this season. The Qualifying happened on Saturday and Charles Leclerc from Ferrari grabbed the pole position with Max Verstappen getting P2 and Carlos Sainz getting P3 and it was building up to be a great race.
Before we start getting into the details of the race results we should talk about how good the track was and how even this race was and there were a few results towards the end of the race that shocked a lot of people and it was a gripping race and it perfectly sets up the next week’s race in Jeddah Saudi Arabia which will be held from the 25th-27th March. All the drivers except the two from McLaren started on Soft tires.
Let’s look at the race results now:
Start
When the race started Leclerc and Max got clean starts and they got ahead from the rest of the field but Sergio Perez had a bad start as he was displaced a few places to sixth momentarily but he regained the 4th spot by the 10th lap and Charles and Max were the top two for a while. In Lap 14 Max Verstappen tried to overtake Charles Leclerc but from lap 17 it was a fierce battle between the two as Max used the DRS to overtake Charles into Turn 1 but Charles quickly I overtook Max at Turn 4 via DRS again and as Max tried to get the first place back he gave Leclerc a Goud lead.
Mid Race
During the mid point of the race Max Verstappen again tried to get the pole by overtaking Leclerc with his medium tires but Ferrari and they aided Charles to get our of DRS range from Max Verstappen. On Lap 43 of the race Max Verstappen opted for soft tires but Ferrari did not respond this time. Three Laps later the safety car was put into effect as Piers Gasly car burst into flames so the race was put on hold and this allowed Charles Leclerc to go for the soft tires an Max Verstappen complained of the steering feeling heavy.
The Finish
The race once again started on Lap 51 and from here Carlos Sainz put pressure on Max Verstappen and on lap 55 Max had to bow out of the race which gave Ferrari a 1-2 in the but Perez was holding onto third spot but in the final lap of the race Sergio Perez’s engine cut out abruptly thus allowing Lewis Hamilton to grab the third place and a place in the podium which looked unlikely all throughout the race. Charles Leclerc also got the fastest lap of the race thus giving him an extra point for that
This race taught us that sport is cruel, just months before Max Verstappen and Red Bull were celebrating a historic victory and today both their drivers had to bow out before the completion of the race but the good thing is that this was only the first race and there are many more up go to recover and come back strong. Whereas Ferrari would love for this dream run to go on for all season. It was a thrilling race with unexpected twists and turns and there will be many more to come in the coming races as well.
