Bahrain GP: Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in Sakhir

Bengaluru, March 20: Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc won the Formula 1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit as Carlos Sainz Jr backed up a Ferrari 1-2 with Red Bull suffering a double did not finish to give Lewis Hamilton the final podium place in a stunning start to the season.

Sainz capitalised on defending FIA F1 world champion Max Verstappen's woes and took P2 off the champion on Lap 54, Sergio Perez and Hamilton following suit.

Hamilton was right on Perez's tail - and then the Mexican began to complain of a power unit issue, and it turned from bad to worse for the reigning drivers' championship-winning team when Perez spun at Turn 1 when his engine gave way on the final lap, giving Hamilton the final podium place.

George Russell, who started ninth, enjoyed superior race pace to the midfielders and took P4 after the Red Bulls retired, ahead of Kevin Magnussen - fifth for Haas on his return to F1.

Valtteri Bottas rescued P6 after a poor start for Alfa Romeo, while Esteban Ocon shrugged off a penalty early on for contact with Mick Schumacher to take a surprise seventh.

In P8 was AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, solid on his final stint and in the final restart, while Fernando Alonso shrugged off poor pace in his second stint to take ninth.

And on debut, Zhou Guanyu took points for Alfa Romeo - Mick Schumacher missing out in P11.

Verstappen's first pit had been more successful in worrying Leclerc, undercutting the leader and wiping out a three-second gap to move comfortably within DRS range.

In three consecutive laps, Verstappen made late moves on the straight into Turn 1 to get ahead, only for Leclerc to swiftly respond each time - the last such scrap seeing the Red Bull lock up, seemingly damaging both brakes and tyres before falling back.

Verstappen's team sought to bring him back into the picture with another undercut but advised the driver to protect his tyres on the out lap, much to his frustration as Leclerc maintained his lead.

A fire onboard Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri brought out the safety car, yet that ultimately worked in favour of Ferrari and Mercedes when the cars of Verstappen and Perez both bowed under the pressure and failed to finish.

For Leclerc, besides a three-lap battle with Verstappen, this was a relatively straightforward victory after making good use of Ferrari's pace again.