Ferrari, the most successful team in Formula 1, returned to victory in the top category this Sunday after 29 months with the crowning of Monegasque Charles Leclerc at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first date of the 2022 season.
The night at the Sakhir circuit was completely bright because the Spanish Carlos Sainz completed the 1-2 for the Maranello house, which had not written its name in the winning box since the treble in Belgium, Italy and Singapore in September 2019. The German Sebastian Vettel, in another 1-2 with Leclerc, had achieved the last corkage in the Marina Bay street circuit, on Sunday the 22nd of that month.
At the beginning of a new era of aerodynamics, Ferrari had a perfect weekend, because in addition to the double on the podium, he added the pole position with the Monegasque and the fastest lap of the race with the Spaniard.
“I am so happy, it has been very difficult years for the team, this was a great opportunity, with a fantastic car. To start this way is incredible,” said Leclerc, who added his third victory in the category.
Ferrari showed the best adaptation to changes in the cars, which after 40 years experience “ground effect” again, allowing them more speed and better traction in the corners.
“We tried to be smart, to use DRS and brake earlier at Turn 1. It worked,” he said of the Prancing Horse’s strategy, winner of 239 Grands Prix and 16 F1 titles.
Third place in Bahrain was “inherited” by the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who benefited from the crash of a Red Bull that saw the Dutch Max Verstappen and the Mexican Sergio “Checo” Pérez abandon in the final laps.
The defender of the 2021 championship stayed three laps from the end when he was in second position and the Aztec driver did it in the last due to a spin, which enabled the British to climb.
The Englishman George Russell (Mercedes), Hamilton’s new teammate, was fourth, in a race in which the Danish Kevin Magnussen, who has just replaced the Russian Nikita Mazepin in Haas -because of the sanctions against Russia, for invading Ukraine- finished fifth; ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas, sixth in his debut with Alfa Romeo.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon, Alonso’s teammate in Alpine, was seventh, ahead of Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), eighth this Sunday in Sakhir. For the first time in the 73-year history of F1, a Chinese driver, Zhou Ganyu, competed with the Alfa Romeo team; that he could not have had a better debut, since he scored, finishing tenth.