F1, Bahrain GP in Sepang: Verstappen wins, Antonelli extends his lead in the World Championship

An old-fashioned Max Verstappen, an excellent second Kimi Antonelli who sees the World Championship ever closer and a Ferrari that first gets everything wrong with a horror tire strategy and then saves itself with a podium by Lewis Hamilton.

The Bahrain Grand Prix, staged in Sepang in Malaysia due to the war in the Gulf, starts seriously late due to the usual equatorial downpour and rewards the two drivers of the Circus who are best at extricating themselves from the dangers of the wet track, namely the Flying Dutchman and the World Championship leader: thus the Red Bull standard bearer wins the first victory of the season in a crazy race, while the Italian driver reaches out for the World Championship after the withdrawal of his teammate George Russell, who collapsed in -84 in the standings.

Third was Hamilton who overtook Isack Hadjar with two laps to go who had just inherited third place from Russell, forced to surrender during the safety car phase five laps from the checkered flag.

Charles Leclerc's other red car was fourth, while Oscar Piastri sealed the top five with McLaren ahead of Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso who finally led Aston Martin to the points. Lando Norris and Arvid Lindblad win the last points up for grabs.

A race, that of Sepang, started with an hour and a half delay first due to a storm and then due to problems with the software of the power units of some single-seaters (Verstappen and the two Ferraris) in the laps behind the Safety Car of the first starting attempt. Green light which immediately saw any possibility of victory disappear for the Prancing Horse: Hamilton and Leclerc both started with the soft compound on a still wet track, initially foundering at the rear of the group. Verstappen was the first to take advantage of the situation, evading all difficulties and managing to score the seventy-second victory of his career in Malaysia. For his part, Antonelli returns to extend his lead at the top of the general classification, bringing his lead over teammate Russell to eighty-four points. And only the twist, in the final laps of the race in Sepang, also allows Ferrari to return to the podium, where it had been missing since July, with Hamilton, and to take fourth place with Leclerc. A result that did not save the Rossa from the fury of the fans who poured onto social media: especially the Prancing Horse wall in their sights.

"Congratulations to Max (Verstappen, ed.) first of all. For us it was a very tough race due to the wrong tire choice we made at the start - admitted the seven-time world champion at the end of the race - We thought that Max would also have chosen dry tires but we were wrong. It was very difficult to see everyone else get away from me at the start and during the first lap but I kept my head down. In the end I'm on the podium after I was a minute behind the leader at the start. Honestly It's the best of the many races I've raced here in Sepang over the years." Kimi Antonelli smiles a lot at the end for a second place that smacks of the World Championship in the safe: "Today we achieved the best possible result. Congratulations to Max and Red Bull for their weekend. We didn't have their pace or rather, I was fine in the wet, apart from a few lock-ups, but I didn't have Max's pace on the dry asphalt. Our update package certainly gave us some problems. I believe that in Singapore we will compare the two options in the first free practice session in Singapore because There were particular conditions here. In Singapore - concludes Antonelli - we will ride in cool weather, there we would have a more reliable response. For us there is still some work to do. We suffered more than usual, so I'm happy with second place and the fans are equally happy.

Bahrain GP, rankings

Finishing order of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)

2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2,307

3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +4,919

4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +7,258

5 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) +8.571

6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +9,454

7 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +12,753

8 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +13,372

9 Lando Norris (McLaren) +13,993

10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +15,928

11 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +17,404

12 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +18,052

13 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +18,997

14 Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team) +22.305

15 Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team) +22.532

16 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +23.315

17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +25,431

18 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +28,233

19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +29.310

Drivers' world ranking:

1 Kimi Antonelli (Italy, Mercedes) 320

2 George Russell (UK, Mercedes) 236

3 Lewis Hamilton (UK, Ferrari) 214

4 Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari) 191

5 Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Red Bull) 188

6 Lando Norris (UK, McLaren) 188

7 Oscar Piastri (Australia, McLaren) 128

8 Isack Hadjar (France, Red Bull) 96

9 Liam Lawson (New Zealand, Racing Bulls) 65

10 Pierre Gasly (France, Alpine) 41

11 Arvid Lindblad (UK, Racing Bulls) 38

12 Franco Colapinto (Argentina, Alpine) 27

13 Oliver Bearman (UK, Haas) 20

14 Gabriel Bortoleto (Brazil, Audi) 10

15 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Audi) 7

16 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain, Williams) 7

17 Esteban Ocon (France, Haas) 7

18 Fernando Alonso (Spain, Aston Martin) 7

19 Alexander Albon (Thailand, Williams) 5

20 Yuki Tsunoda (Japan, Racing Bulls) 1

World constructors' ranking:

1 Mercedes 556

2 Ferrari 405

3 McLaren 316

4 Red Bull Racing 298

5 Racing Bulls 90

6 Alpine 68

7 Haas F1 Team 27

8 Audi 17

9 Williams 12

10 Aston Martin 7