![Prost International [PINT]](https://prostinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/PINTtFontLogoRoboto1536x78.jpg)
Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen to claim victory at Bahrain, the seven-time world champion inherited track position after an early undercut before he fended off the Dutchman in the closing stages of the Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver opted to put Red Bull on the back foot from the opening stages of the race as Hamilton undercut Verstappen during the first stint. As Verstappen closed up to Hamilton, they chose to pit the reigning champion yet again, retaining track position.
The Red Bull driver was tasked with hunting down the reigning champion with ten-lap fresher tyres. The 23-year old pulled off a scintillating overtake around the outside of turn four before being instructed to give the position back due to a track limits infringement which consequently cost him the lead of the race.
With only two laps to go, Verstappen was unable to regain any time he had lost to the 36-year old after accumulating some dirt off-line on his tyres, Hamilton opened his title defence with a win in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
It was Valtteri Bottas who rounded out the podium with the fastest lap in the second Mercedes car despite being over 30 seconds behind teammate Hamilton.
Starting Grid
Verstappen lined up in first alongside Hamilton after beating the Mercedes driver to pole position by nearly four-tenths.
On the second row was Bottas in the second Mercedes next to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc after yet another mouth-watering qualifying display from the young Monegasque driver.
Pierre Gasly lined up in fifth as he and AlphaTauri impressed, next to him was the first of the two McLaren’s as Daniel Ricciardo out-qualified Lando Norris.
The second Ferrari was to follow in eighth as Carlos Sainz failed to improve on his final timed lap in qualifying. The Alpine of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was in ninth ahead of Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10.
Looking further down the grid, Sergio Perez provisionally started in P11 before his Red Bull had an electrical issue on the formation lap as the Mexican was then forced to start from the pit-lane.
Antonio Giovinazzi in P12, rookie Yuki Tsunoda in P13, Kimi Raikkonen in P14, George Russell in P15, Esteban Ocon in P16, Nicholas Latifi in P17, Mick Schumacher in P18, Nikita Mazepin in P19 and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in P20 as he was given a five-place grid penalty after not adhering to double waved yellows in Q1.
As It Happened
Even before the race started Perez pulled over with an electrical issue before resetting his car and getting back underway although from the pit-lane. Verstappen was complaining about differential issues at low speed which impacted him in what was not an ideal start to Sunday for Red Bull.
It was plain sailing for the front two as they retained their starting position, but behind Leclerc overtook Bottas with his soft tyre enhancing his start. It was a clean start throughout the field, but for Mazepin who spun his Haas car on the exit kerb turn two as he soared towards the barrier.
Norris overtook teammate Ricciardo and Sainz dropped to 10th while Vettel had a great start going from P20 to P14 in a matter of corners before the safety car was deployed.
At the restart, Verstappen remained in the lead but further back Gasly made contact with Ricciardo as the Frenchman saw his front-wing fly off his car before making his way to the pits.
Norris was rapid after the restarted as he closed up the Leclerc before making a move on the Ferrari driver on lap nine. Alonso was the first the pounce when it came to pulling off an early undercut with the bid to get ahead of Stroll, Ricciardo, Leclerc and Norris.
A host of cars responded but it was too late for some as Alonso jumped both Riccardo and Stroll to take a net P6. Hamilton pitted on lap 14 and with a blistering out-lap ensured Verstappen would not be able to respond and reclaim his lead of the race.
The Brit pushed on as Verstappen opted to extend his first stint of the race, Perez also extended as he gained time on everyone outside of the top three. Two-time world champion Alonso started to struggle after his early stop, falling through the field to outside the top 10.
Just four laps later Verstappen responded and emerged out of the pit-lane seven seconds behind net race leader Hamilton. At the end of lap 28, the Dutchman had got the gap down to just under two seconds as Mercedes took the opportunity to pit the reigning champion for a second time to prevent any Red Bull undercut.
It looked like Hamilton would be forced to convert his race into a three-stop but as time progressed his pace remained strong. Just ten laps later, Verstappen boxed for a final time onto the hard tyre as it became apparent the Red Bull driver would have to overtake Hamilton on track to claim victory.
Meanwhile, the second Red Bull of Perez continued to carve his way through the field with his eyes now set on the top five drivers as he overtook Ricciardo into turn one. There was a coming together between Vettel and Ocon as the German locked up hitting the Alpine driver but both drivers carried on.
Laps started to tick down and Verstappen only got closer to Hamilton until he and Red bull were ready to pounce on lap 52. The gap was six-tenths as Verstappen went side by side with Hamilton looking to the outside of turn one as he opened up the run-up to turn four.
The 23-year-old pushed Hamilton out of turn two before sweeping around the outside of the British driver at turn four with the help of DRS and a bit of extra track. It soon emerged that Verstappen would be given a penalty if he failed to return the position as he overtook with all four wheels off the track.
Verstappen went off-line letting Hamilton through along the third DRS straight as the Red Bull driver picked up dirt on his tyre and failed to pose a threat to the 36-year-old. Hamilton claimed his and Mercedes’ first win of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix after 56 jaw-dropping laps.
Bottas completed the podium ahead of Norris as Perez completed an impressive comeback drive in fifth. Leclerc secured sixth with Ricciardo to follow as Sainz, Tsunoda and Stroll rounded out the top 10.
What’s Next?
The action stops for Formula 1 with the next race at Imola in three weeks time. In the meantime, the drivers and teams will have substantial time to develop and get on top of their 2021 car.
Lewis Hamilton is the current leader of the Championship with the British driver on 25 points after the opening race of the season with Verstappen behind on 19 for Red Bull.
Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt
