Seven-times champion and Mercedes pull off strategic coupVerstappen and Red Bull settle for second after securing poleWith his victory at the Bahrain
Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton delivered an emphatic and salutary reminder that if Max Verstappen is to wrest the title from the champion’s grasp he will be fought every inch of the way.
Formula One moreover could not have asked for a more spectacular, gripping finale to the season-opening race than the deciding laps at the Sakhir circuit. Hamilton’s win for Mercedes over Red Bull’s Verstappen was as unexpected as it was enthralling and it was the fight the sport had been waiting for.